Time you go on
by RueNeko
Summary: It's the Marauders' third year of schooling, and they're still as naughty as ever. Gail Forester is an unattractive girl. How will she ever make it through school without being the target of pranks? Rated for eventual mature content. Permanent hiatus, eventual rework.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter. I do own my own characters. I have set the characters to Remus and Sirius, not because they are a pairing, but because I don't want to give away any pairings I may make in the story.

**Summary: **It's the Marauders' third year of schooling, and they're still as naughty as ever. Gail Forester is an unattractive girl. How will she ever make it through school without being the target of pranks?

* * *

**Time you go on  
Chapter 1**

It was the beginning of the new year at Hogwarts. Banners depicting the different houses were draped from the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall. Fairy lights and candles floated around the hall. Students had begun to eat the large welcome feast after Dumbledore had finished talking. The hall echoed with the sounds of utensils.

Gail Forester sat in the middle of a bench at the Griffindor table. She was happily shovelling large spoonfuls of mashed potatoes into her mouth. While other people were have conversations with other people about their summer vacations and plans for the new year, Gail was focused on the food. It had been a while since she'd eaten such scrumptious food.

The boy sitting next to her was staring at her with his mouth open slightly. One of the boy's friends elbowed him impatiently. The impatient boy looked over his friend's mousey little head and grinned wickedly, "oye, save some for the rest of us!"

Gail's head snapped up, her dark eyes darting around for the source of the voice. She tried to glare at the haughty boy, but the potatoes stuck on the side of her face just made him laugh.

The small, mousey boy started laughing hysterically, too. Within a second, another boy with glasses and messy hair joined in the laughter. He pulled his wand out as he spoke, "you should really clean your face once in a while! _Scourgify_!"

Bubbles exploded in Gail's face, filling her eyes and seeping into her mouth. The three boys' laughter became even louder. The smallest boy looked like he was ready to wet himself from laughing too hard. It only took a moment for Gail to reorient herself. Standing up, she walked out of the Great Hall. She was no longer hungry, she just felt sickly embarrassed.

Behind her, she heard echoes of "there goes fatty" and other equally nice things from the other tables.

By the time she made it to the dormitories, the bubbles had dispersed. The whole episode was her fault to begin with. Normally, she wouldn't have sat next anywhere near the three people that were laughing at her. She had heard rumours about a group of Griffindor boys that caused trouble everywhere they went. Gail had never had the pleasure of getting to know them, and hadn't even recognized who she sat beside at dinner.

Darting towards the bathroom, Gail stared at her face in the mirror. It was true that she was pudgy. Her round little face had two squinty eyes staring back at her. She had always been like this, though. It wasn't her fault that she got hungry. She was used to childish teasing and childhood bullies. In the muggle schools, she had endured taunting that was far worse than anything James Potter or Sirius Black could come up with.

They didn't even have the power to make her cry. No, she was not that weak. Gail knew that they would get more enjoyment from her yelling, crying or

Tugging at the side of her shirt, Gail's eyes stared into the mirror. Her clothes weren't the right size. The worst part was that her sleeves were too tight. The rest of the her uniform wasn't right either. The rolls of her stomach stood out and her legs looked huge. She could understand why people would make fun of her.

As she exited the bathroom, the door to the dormitory flew open. A girl stormed into the room, her face was almost the same colour as her red hair. Fuming, she ignored Gail's presences completely and threw herself onto her four-post bed. This was exactly the same as the last three years of school. Gail would always be ignored by the wonderful, lovely Lily Evans, even if they were the only two people in the room. It wasn't really Lily's fault.

Gail preferred to be alone. She also liked small, dark spaces. The deserted bathroom, also known as Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom, was one of the nicer places that she would go to be alone.

While Gail was thinking about sitting in a lovely, dark place, four other girls came into the dormitory. She couldn't quite remember their names, so she just ignored what they were talking about. The three blondes were discussing boys or something equally intelligible. None of the other girls even greeted Gail, who was now scrolled out on the bed, flipping through her new care of magical creatures textbook.

The brunette who had been walking with the other girls, climbed onto Lily's bed.

"C'mon Lily, did you really need to blow up at Potter?" The brunette asked, rubbing her friend's back gently.

"Jo!" Lily groaned, turning her head to glare at the girl, "it wasn't your best friend being hexed. You wouldn't understand."

Joan tilted her head to the side, "well, I guess I would have blown my top if they were hexing you..."

Lily huffed, "I've known Severus since our childhood! If I don't stick up for him, who will?"

Gail couldn't understand why anyone would claim to be friends with someone as repulsive as Severus Snape. She wouldn't ever say that, though. Other people would probably say the same thing about her.

"Ew," one of the blondes piped up, "I can't believe you'd rather be nice to Snivellus than to a babe like James Potter..."

The blonde immediately turned to her friends, "did you see? Sirius Black winked at me during dinner. He is SO yummy. I'd snog him in a second."

The blondes all giggled, and started talking about the attractive boys around the school. Gail promptly blocked out the rest of the vacation. She was too busy admiring the pictures of dragons in her textbook.

The next morning, Gail was sitting at the Griffindor table after finishing her breakfast. She had been staring down at her timetable for a few minutes. Her schedule showed that she had early morning Transfiguration followed by Care of Magical Creatures. It seemed like her course load had expanded too much from the previous year. She almost felt like throwing up. She was scheduled for eight classes.

Transfiguration with the rest of the Griffindors and one of the other houses. Sighing, Gail stood up and exited the Great Hall. She easily found her way to the right classroom. Several students stood around talking. Gai sat in the middle of the class. She was neither an overachiever or a slacker. Normalcy was her game, and it usually worked to keep her working by quietly by herself.

Professor McGonagall's entrance caused silence to ripple through the classroom. Students found their seats quickly, and dug out their school supplies. The only students that dared coming to class after McGonagall were the four Griffindor boys.

Smiling to each other, the boys filed in and took four seats at the back of the class. They pretty much ignored the annoyed glances of Minerva McGonagall. Several Hufflepuff girls had turned in their seats to stare at the boys. So had Lily Evens, but her stare was more sharp. Lily openly glared at them for a few seconds before snapping her head to the front of the class.

This would be one year to remember.

* * *

It was so hot. Gail's skin felt like it was melting. It was one of those days where everyone ditched their ties, sweaters, robes and rolled up the sleeves of their shirts. It was like the weather didn't know that it was September. Even Gail had tied her tawny hair up to get it off of her neck. The other students mulled around the grounds, awaiting their Care of Magical Creatures professor, Silvanus Kettleburn.

Professor Kettleburn eventually emerged from his shack on the grounds. His cold gaze lingered on the cherub-like faces of the third years. The man walked with an extremely exaggerated limp. There were rumours that both of the man's legs had been replaced with magically enhanced prosthetic ones. Kettleburn also had a rather ominous hook instead of a left hand. If there was one lesson that could be learned simply from looking at the man, it was to give magical creatures respect and treat them with caution.

"Ah, a bunch of new third years," Kettleburn's dour mood seemed to deepen, "more students, just like last year. Well, we'll start the year with something interesting."

Limping, Kettleburn looped his hook around the handle of a large box. He easily dragged the box into the middle of the semicircle of students. Looking up, the professor grinned and opened the lid. A few students peeked into the box.

"There's nothing in there," a whisper went through the group of students. The students were standing in two large groups, made up of Griffindors and Ravenclaws. The two houses had Care of Magical Creatures together, and were obviously not very friendly with one another.

Professor Kettleburn turned his attention to the box. He dropped his right hand in and grabbed something invisible.

"Does anyone know," Kettleburn started talking, and the students went quiet, "what a diricawl is?"

One of the Griffindor students put her hand up. Her red hair shone in the sun. She ignored the sniggers of the male students behind her. Kettleburn pointed at her, waiting for her response.

"A diricawl is a flightless bird that can make itself invisible if it feels that it's endangered," the girl responded, "muggles have named the diricawl a "dodo" and believe that it is extinct."

"Very good, Miss Evans. I heard you were a clever student from the other professors," Kettleburn gently rubbed his hook across the top of the invisible creature he was holding, "ten points to Griffindor."

Several Ravenclaw students stared at the red-haired girl, wondering why she wasn't in their house. Kettleburn plopped the invisible creature back into the box, causing it to squeak quietly. He didn't seem to care who answered his questions, or which house they came from.

Kettleburn nodded to the class, "make yourself into groups. Each group will get one diricawl. It will be your job today to make the thing reappear before the end of the class. This will demonstrate how fit you are to care for the more timid creatures. Oh... And I _will_ know if you try to remove any of their feathers, so don't even try it."

The first person to take a step forward for their group's diricawl was a boy with glasses and extremely messy hair. It was the same boy that had used the scurgify spell on her face. Kettleburn reached into the box and extracted one of the creatures for the boy. Calmly, the boy grabbed where the professor had. Retreating back to his group, the four boys moved off to find a nice place to spend the rest of the class.

"Too bad," one of the boys was speaking quietly, "I reckon we could have used a few of this guy's feathers for our 'adventures'."

Gail had been so focused on watching the boy with the glasses that she had forgotten that she needed to push herself into a group. Awkwardly, she stared at the five females that she shared a room with in the Griffindor dormitories. Two girls stood away from the other three. None of them really noticed her presence, so she was forced to tap one of the girls on the shoulder. The girl spun around gracefully.

"Oh, Gail," the girl stared at her with slight interest for a moment. She have lovely, rich brown hair. Gail couldn't clearly remember her name, but decided it had to be Joan, or Jo for short. The girl seemed to have some authority about her, but her eyes shone with kindness as she spoke, "want to join our group?"

Gail nodded, speaking quietly, "yes please."

The redhead who had received ten points for Griffindor, Lily Evans, nodded at her. Joan Thestile and Lily Evans were good friends, and they usually paired up for group work. Gail thought that Lily was somewhat intimidating, but she would rather be paired with two girls that would work hard, instead of the three blonde girls that would do _no_ work.

Lily's deep emerald eyes focused on Gail for a moment before she spoke, "I'll got get our diricawl." With that, Lily walked straight up to Kettleburn, who got the invisible bird for her.

The other group of Griffindor girls were smiling and watching the group of boys. They weren't overly interested in getting their own bird. Kettleburn eventually walked over to them, handing them an invisible bird. The silly girls just giggled, walking closer to the boys that they thought were "yummy".

It looked like Lily had received a very twitchy and nervous bird. Her hands kept jerking around, as if the bird was trying to get away. Pleadingly, Lily looked to Jo for help.

"I can't keep a good hold on it," Lily grumbled, "it keeps twitching around and it's pretty heavy. Can I get some help, please?"

Jo, never one to leave her friend high and dry, flustered. She really didn't know what she was doing. Gail, though, had read the book thoroughly for their new class. She always had an affinity for pets, and had wondered if they would be taught how to look after magical pets in the class.

"Set him on the ground, but keep a hold on him," Gail stated calmly, "that way, you won't have to hold such a heavy creature. All we really have to do is calm him down, and maybe make him fall asleep."

After Lily had set the bird on the ground, Gail knelt and stiffly lifted her hand up, and searched for the bird's head. The bird had extremely soft feathers, and a strangely shaped beak. Eventually, Lily's hands stopped being jerked around by the bird. She was able to relax a bit. Jo knelt next to Gail, reaching a hand towards where Lily had her hands on the bird's body.

Eventually, the diricawl calmed down enough that Lily didn't even need to hold it. The bird had settled on the ground in between the three girls and started trumpeting happily. Soon the "dodo" bird had even fallen asleep, and had become visible.

"Whoa," Jo grinned at the plump body of the bird, "there he is!"

"Well done girls," a voice came from behind them. Gail turned to see Kettleburn standing there, admiring their work, "you're the fastest in the class to get yours to settle down. Well done. Twenty points to Griffindor."

"You can join our group again in the future," Lily commanded, turning her gaze from Kettleburn to Gail, "you aren't as slow as you look."

Gail nodded solemly in agreement. It wouldn't hurt to work with Lily and Jo again, it might raise her confidence in herself. The moment of peace between the girls was broken by loud screeching. Undoubtedly, the group of four boys were causing problems again. Lily swivelled her head around, targeting the boys with her cold stare.

"Potter! Black!" Kettleburn yelled at the boys as he made his way over to them. He had obviously been informed as the who the troublemakers in the third year were, "I told you not to try to steal any feathers! Look, you got Pettigrew injured. Detentions for all four of you. Now get your classmate to the hospital wing."

"Come on Peter," the attractive boy, named Sirius Black, hauled Peter to his feet.

Indeed, Pettigrew was injured. The bird had taken a chunk out of the boy's hand with its beak, and had clawed the boy's face up, as well. Potter and Black, Gail thought, looked terribly flustered that they had been caught for nicking such an item. The other boy, Gail didn't know his name, was holding a piece of cloth to Peter's injuries to stop the bleeding. The other students in the class watched them as they pulled Peter Pettigrew back up to the castle.

"Serves them right," Lily said, glaring at the retreating figures of the boys, "they couldn't just behave, they had to go and get one of their friends injured.

Yes, it would be a year to remember.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Hello! I'd like to take a moment and thank you for reading this story. I plan on making it a romance/mystery, but the type of story may change, along with the main characters. At first, I planned on having poor Gail date Peter, but I don't think anyone would want to read that. I sure don't want to torture anyone with a PeterOC kissing scene. _Or do I?_

**Review please: **I want to know which pairing you guys prefer. RemusOC or SiriusOC?

I'm done the next chapter, so if you review, I'll post it quickly. 3

Look forward to _Deleted Scenes_ at the end of my next chapter. I'm bringing funny back.

-Rue


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The weeks flew by. Autumn hit Hogwarts with ease. Students now wore scarves with their house colours when they went outside. Nothing had really happened to Gail since the opening feast, in terms of being picked on. Of course, the other four boys were focused on hexing other students, mainly Slytherins. Gail felt lucky that she could fly below the radar, for the most part. Life had been nice and quiet.

Correction, it was quiet until the Halloween feast. The hall was decorated with pumpkins, skeletons, and various other seasonal elements. The ghosts were making the most out of the feast, too. The decorations were the only things that set the feast apart from others. The food was similar to the opening feast. The students were eating as only teenagers could. No one stopped to notice that the four boys, Potter, Black, Lupin and Pettigrew, had not touched one morsel of food.

Gail was happily chewing on a rather crunchy piece of chicken when her stomach started to turn slightly. Looking up from her plate, she noted that several other students had been afflicted by various afflictions. The hair on half of the students was standing on end. Quite a number of other students started running around, screaming that they "didn't understand." Other people were affected with sleepiness, forgetfulness, or begun changing shape. Gail, who didn't fit into any of the other categories, found that she couldn't stop hiccuping.

In short, the Great Hall was filled with pandemonium. Girls and boys of all age were found sobbing. Nothing could have squashed the grins on the four pranksters' faces. The four boys toasted to each other in victory. It was a good thing that the professors were prepared for some kind of prank. Dumbledore set them to work on calming the students down. The commotion ended almost as quickly as it had started.

Gail was one of the few who had to go to the hospital wing, since she was one of the few that opted for chicken instead of one of the other side dishes. She was having trouble breathing between hiccups. Her heart seemed to be beating quicker. Madam Pomfrey ushered her to a bed, and forced a flask of a lumpy liquid down her throat. Within a few minutes, Gail was able to breath again. Her hiccuping had subsided.

"I would tell you to remain here for the night," Pomfrey sniffed unhappily, "but there aren't enough beds. Your hiccuping will be gone by tomorrow morning. Make sure to get enough sleep."

With that, Gail was allowed to leave the hospital wing. It appeared that the Slytherin table was the worst off, because most of the students in the infirmary were from that house. The afflictions set on the pureblood fanatics was more cruel than the rest of the school received. Severus Snape had huge, pussy boils all over his face. Another Slytherin girl, two beds over from Snape, was moaning quite loudly about how horrible she felt. That was perfectly natural, though, because her nose had swollen to the size of a grapefruit.

Gail had to bite back a laugh at that. It was amusing to see such horrible people in pain, but she really hadn't recovered from her own pain. She still hiccuped every now and then as she walked back to the Griffindor common room. As she climbed through the portrait hole, she was greeted by a deserted common room.

Deserted except for a two boys sitting my the fire. Gail recognized the strawberry blonde boy, with his hair slicked back. It was Peter Pettigrew. Neither boy took notice of her as she walked quietly to the stairs leading to the girl's dormitories. The tall, pale boy had seemed like he had been completely sucked into his book, Peter was sleepily watching the fire. They didn't notice her until she let out a rather loud hiccup.

Peter almost jumped out of his skin. Standing up, he stared at Gail, "oh."

The other boy didn't even look up. It took Gail a few minutes to remember her name. It was Remus Lupin, the other person that followed Potter and Black around.

Gail stopped, too, turning around to look at Peter before letting out another mouse-like hiccup. At this, Peter started laughing shrilly. It was as if they guy had never heard someone hiccup before. Peter's laughter calmed down within half a minute. A small smile formed on Lupin's pale face.

"Sorry," Peter smiled bashfully, "you ate some of the chicken, didn't you?"

Gail nodded and answered solemnly, "good prank. Most of the Slytherins are going to be staying in the hospital wing tonight."

"Ah," Peter's grin widened, "that's because James put Zonko powder in their pumpkin juice."

"Well, thank them for being more benevolent to their fellow Griffindors. Ahem... Goodnight." Gail nodded to Peter before dashing up the stairs. That was her first real conversation with Peter, even though they didn't even make eye contact. He wasn't very attractive, but he had a cute enough smile. His front teeth made him look a lot like the pet rat she had for a year when she was a kid.

* * *

The next day, students were enjoying a small break, while the professors of the school investigated the fiasco at the feast. The weather wasn't warm enough for students to sit outside, so most of the areas around the school were full with students lingering around.

Gail had found her way into Myrtle's bathroom once again. It was quite peaceful. Myrtle wasn't so bad, once you knew what not to say to the ghost.

"Good afternoon, Myrtle," Gail approached the tearful ghost.

"Oh, it's you!" The ghost seemed to cheer up a bit. Gail was perplexed as to why she was always greeted with an "oh". Was it really so difficult to say hello?

"I hope you haven't been too lonely," Gail spoke shortly. She knew Myrtle didn't mean much of what she said as an insult.

"No more so than you!" The ghost giggled happily, "although there were some boys in here. They were brewing potions, you know! Very naughty they were! Tsk tsk."

Gail turned her chubby face to the side. She understood how the Potter gang had kept their mischief under wraps until the proper time. It was likely risky for her to probe into their dealings too much. Peter had already confessed that the group was the cause of the ruckus during the Halloween feast. They probably wouldn't leave her alone if they thought she was too interested in their pranks.

"Oh?" Gail remarked with disinterest, "potions? What a unique place to brew a potion... Well, anyway, would you like to see my newest pet? My father just sent a picture of it to me! He said that I would be able to bring it back to school after Christmas break."

Removing a folded photo from the pocket of her robe, she held it out. In the muggle photo, her father was holding a rather angry looking kitten. The kitten was no bigger than her father's hand, and had patches of black and grey fur. Myrtle stared at the photo, gushing over how cute the baby cat was and Gail echoed the sentiment. She would be able to bring the kitten to Hogwarts, eventually. Out of all the pets she helped her father take care of during the last 13 years of her life, she would have a pet to take care of all by herself.

"I had a pet cat, too," Myrtle sniffed, her mood suddenly turning sour, "when I was alive!"

Miserably, Myrtle soared into the her usual toilet with a high pitched cry. Gail decided she had spent enough time in the presence of the most depressing ghost in Hogwarts. The Griffindor girl left the bathroom before Myrtle could begin sobbing and whining about her premature death.

* * *

Regular classes finally started up again, and the four boys had never been punished. The professors seemed unaware of how any students would have figured out how to get into the kitchens. Gail hadn't said anything, either. She doubted that they would stop playing pranks on other people because of a few detentions, a letter or two home, and a stern lecturing.

Potions was Gail's second worst class, behind History. She had almost failed both classes in the last year, so she was trying her best to follow the lesson. It didn't help that the Griffindors had potions with Slytherin. It was all Gail could do to focus. Death glares were constantly being thrown around the room. Thus was the problem with having two groups of teenagers in the same room that didn't like each other.

It was rather fortunate that old Slughorn allowed people to chose their own partners. Gail assumed it was Lily's plan to make James Potter either jealous or mad by working with Severus Snape. It was working. Lily and Severus worked harmoniously together every day.

For once in her life, Gail didn't have to push herself into a group. Jo had offered to group with her on the first day of potions. Neither were as proficient at potion-making as Lily, but together they generally got the right effect while brewing potions. Today they were brewing sleep draughts.

It wasn't an overly complex potion to make... for someone like Lily. It took a lot of attention for both Jo and Gail to not screw up. The two girls would take turns reading the instructions to each other, before adding ingredients or stirring the potion. Everything was going well, until IT happened.

A round of snickering came from the back of the class. Lily's cauldron promptly exploded. Both her and Snape were covered in the hot potion.

Gail turned her head to look. Black and Potter were both hunched over with tears streaming down their faces. Gail decided that they weren't very attractive when they were laughing like that. They looked pretty ugly.

Black finally finished laughing, "I never thought we would be able to increase the amount of grease in Snivellus' hair, Prongs. Today, we have achieved a new level of success."

Lily's face couldn't have been more red. She was practically shaking with anger as she strode to the back of the class.

"JAMES POTTER," Lily roared, pulling out her wand and pointing it at him.

"Oye, calm down Evans," Sirius growled, pulling out his own wand, "you don't want to duel us. You'll just embarrass yourself."

Lily was too angry to listen to Sirius, though. She looked like steam would start coming out of her head if she was forced to hold her temper for one more second. She turned her wand to Sirius, "Silencio!"

Lily quickly turned her wand back to James, "you disgusting git. You are the most offensive person I have ever met. Why am I even bothering to waste my breath on you. Petrificus Totalus!"

By the time Lily had casted the two spells, Slughorn had blustered over. He looked rather shocked in seeing his favourite student acting out. Once he saw that she was covered in the sleeping potion, though, he turned his gaze to James and Sirius. With a flick of his wand, he removed the spells and cleaned the potion off of Lily and Severus.

"Boys, couldn't we find a better way to get a girl's attention? Both of you shall time to think about this. Two detentions each should do, because you two saw fit to disrupt my entire class," Slughorn huffed before turning to Lily, "Miss Evans, I will give you some extra time to complete your potion. Please use your time effectively."

James glowered at Lily's back as she settled back in her seat beside Snape. Sirius was also glaring around the class. Both were probably mad because they got stuck with two detentions, and she got away with nothing.

Jo ended up poking Gail to get her back on track. By the end of the class, the two decided that their potion was "good enough" for a passing grade. Slughorn made a face when they handed their potion, in a glass vial, to him.

"I've seen better, but at least it's the right colour this time. It seems like the right consistency. You'll get 89% on this," Slughorn nodded, and recorded a grade.

Jo went to talk to Lily after class, "hey Lily! What was that about? Why did they make your potion explode?"

Lily looked quite frazzled, her eyes searching her friend. Severus had already left the class with his house mates. Lily shrugged, "why do they do anything? Potter and Black think that it makes them cool, and they get pleasure from ruining the hard work of others."

That was all that Gail wanted to hear. Collecting her things and tucking them into her bag, she exited the class. She met three raised wands outside of the class. It looked like Black and Potter, with their little tagalong friend Peter, wanted revenge.

"It's not Evans, Prongs," Sirius stated, lowering his wand and casting his divine, smoky grey eyes over the unattractive girl.

"Gee, what make you think that, Padfoot?" James snickered, rolling his eyes as he lowered his wand too, "hey you, is Evans still in the class?"

Gail was surprised that the two "cool" boys were talking to her. Her eyes darted from Sirius to James and then to Peter. She ignored Remus, who was standing behind the three with his nose stuck in a book.

"Yes, she's still in there," Gail conceded calmly, "but is it really necessary to jump her, three to one?"

James seemed to think about it for a moment, raising his hand to mess up his hair, "no, I'm sure I could hex her myself."

"If you know you can hex her easily," Gail continued, "why don't you _duel_ her fairly? You are a Griffindor. It'd be a shame if you did something worthy of a brainless-Slytherin."

Peter looked excited, "Prongs, you're going to duel a girl?"

James seemed to ponder it for a moment, but shook his head. There wasn't anyone around worth showing off for, except Lily Evans herself. She certainly wouldn't be impressed if he hexed her.

"We'll have to find a different way to get even with her," James commanded, a mischievous look playing across his face, "c'mon Padfoot, Wormtail, let's go to the common room. We need to get a present for Miss Evans. Moony, you coming?"

Gail sighed with relief, seeing the four boys walk off. It really did pay off to be agreeable with all sorts of people. She almost didn't hear Sirius ask James, "who was that girl?"

And she most certainly didn't hear James' response.

* * *

**Author note:**

The potions that the marauders used on the food were: Confusing Concoction, Hair-raising potion, Hiccuping Potion, Swelling solution, Shrinking potion, Sleeping potion, Forgetfulness potion. Oh, those clever boys. I imagine Zonko's Joke Shop would also sell some kind of item that would give the person who ingests it the runs, boils, etc.

I might also add that the addition of nicknames DOES have a meaning. Hint hint, wink wink.

In the last chapter, I said I would include deleted scenes. These are just for fun, and aren't included in my real storyline. Here is my bad attempt at writing humour. Wish me luck.

Without further ado, here is the _Deleted Scene_.  
**Chapter edit: **I had Slughorn assign an "A" before. It's been changed to a percentage mark. Oops. Thanks _nextgenwriter_.

-Rue

* * *

**First Love.**

She was in love. That much was certain.

His face was so adorable. It reminded her of her pet rat. Harold had always been a good rat, and always scared away the mean, muggle girls at school. The only real difference between Peter and Harold was their size, and the fact that Peter gave her butterflies every time she looked at him.

Gail's stomach felt like it was going to explode when he was standing in front of her, offering her a flower. She thought she was going to faint.

"Will you go out with me, Gail Forester?" Peter asked, handing the plump girl a flower as he smiled bashfully.

Gail opened and closed her mouth a few time, before bobbing her head excitedly, "that would be wonderful, Peter!"

The two teenagers looked at each other awkwardly for a few minutes, while Peter fumbled with Gail's hand. Luckily, Peter's friends weren't in the room to make fun of them.

"Would you like to go for a walk around the lake?" Peter asked shyly, "I mean, if you're busy today, we could always go on the weekend or something."

Gail nodded, feeling like her stomach would jump out of her throat. She could feel her cheeks heating up as she responded, "sure, Peter."

A loud fox whistle came from the portrait hole as three handsome boys stepped through. Two of the three boys were grinning at Gail and Peter like idiots. The third seemed slightly put off, for some reason. What was that boy's name again? Rebus Largekin? That was close enough, right?

"It looks like Wormtail has a cute, little girlfriend," Sirius hooted, slapping Peter on the back.

"Congratulations, Wormy!" James grinned, "you finally found a girl worthy of your affections. Now tell me, how _did_ you get her to say yes? I would like to know, so that I can use it on Evans."

"It must have been the Wormtail Charm. A girl can't say 'no' to his runny, pleading eyes, or his high pitched, overly excited laugh," Rebus joked. Gail was a little bit surprised, she hadn't heard him speak outside of class before.

Peter grinned sheepishly and turned to Gail, "is there a reason why you said yes, Gail?"

Gail tilted her head to the side, wondering if she really should tell him. Well, it was better to put things out in the open in such a relationship, right?

"You look like the pet rat I had when I was nine," Gail conceded, "Harold was a good rat. He always let me brush his fur. Sometimes he even acted like a dog. It was so cute."

The boys looked a little miffed at the idea of a cute rat. Peter was blushing profusely, looking quite excited by the fact that a girl thought that he was cute. The other boys, though, fell to the ground in fits of laughter.

"Wormtail!" Sirius laughed until tears ran down his cheeks, "I can't believe she hit the nail on the head!"

Before Gail could ask what was so funny, Peter took her hand and pulled her through the portrait hole. She could still hear their laughter as the portrait of the fat lady swung closed. A lot of people stared at Peter, who was still holding Gail's hand. It was as if they had never seen two third years holding hands before.

Gail's stomach squeezed happily because her fingers were interlocked with Peter's. Happily, the newest oddball couple at Hogwarts headed towards the lake.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

It took Gail a while to explain why she had been waiting for Lily outside of Slughorn's class. She didn't really know where to start.

"Lily?" Gail started, staring at the red head for a moment, "I have something I need to tell you."

Lily turned her unwavering green eyes to the plump girl, "yes?"

"Well..." Gail pushed some of her tawny hair out of her round face, "somehow I persuaded Potter that he shouldn't hex you. Instead, he's planning on playing a prank on you."

Jo snapped before Lily could talk, "you convinced him to prank Lily?"

"Well..." Gail looked somewhat put-out. She really didn't know how to respond. At that moment, she wished she could evaporate. Gail managed to mumbled a response, "I thought she would have a better chance if she wasn't jumped after class by three boys."

Lily nodded in agreement, "if Potter is planning to do anything, I would rather have some time to plan a course of action. He won't surprise me."

Lily still looked a little concerned, though, but at the same time, she looked a little relieved that Potter hadn't hexed her into oblivion, "Thanks for the heads up, Gail. You've given me enough time to prepare for whatever James Potter is planning."

"If you need my help, I'll be around," Gail felt guilty for tampering with the outcome of things. Surely it would have been easier for both Lily and Potter to get the revenge over as quickly as possible. At that moment, she was mostly feeling responsible for Lily. For once, she might as well live up to being a Griffindor.

Nodding, Lily and Jo walked down the hall towards the common room. Momentarily, Gail wondered what they would do about the prank, but that really wasn't her place to ask.

* * *

Within the next few days, Lily had become more and more downtrodden. The redheaded girl looked like a zombie. Late at night, Gail had heard both her and Jo planning how to overcome any prank that the boys could come up with. If they could make it to Christmas, there was a chance that the boys would completely forget about the whole thing.

There were a few things that Lily had done already. She had placed a warding spell on their room that would prevent anyone but the six girls from being able to enter. The staircase leading to the female dormitories was already protected against boys. Lily had also stored away much of her clothes using various protection charms and wards.

Lily had also taken to eating things after having someone else test it first. On quite a few occasions, Gail would wordlessly grab some food that Lily had been eyeing to make sure it was fine, before offering a tiny node to Lily. If Gail didn't, Lily would stick to eating things that she saw other people eat.

Jo and Gail weren't the only ones helping Lily, either. The other three girls in Griffindor would often keep watch over Lily. This was mostly because all of them knew the sting of being embarrassed in front of the entire school. It was as if the six girls had formed some kind of anti-prank team to protect one of their own. Well, that was mostly in Gail's imagination. There wasn't really any cohesiveness within the group, not like the boys had.

In class, Lily would sit as far to the front of the class as she could, ensuring that a few of the other Griffindor girls sat next to her. That way, she would have someone she trusted close to her at all times. She had also placed a few protective charms on her bag and cauldron. This way, she could be sure that her things would not be tampered with when she wasn't looking.

Lily was considered the most intelligent witch in their year for a reason. She was quite clever in being able protect herself from pranks quite easily. More than once, Gail had noted how unhappy James Potter looked whenever he saw Lily. She assumed that he had already tried pranking Lily, but had found some _minor_ difficulties.

During the transition between the two morning classes, Gail heard some whispers coming from an abandoned classroom. She distinctly heard the name of a specific redhead. Gail's heart started racing, and she was tempted to eavesdrop, but she had a nagging feeling. She decided it wasn't such a good idea to hang around there. She had already warned Lily, giving her the upper hand. The Potter gang likely wouldn't thank her for giving away their plans, either.

As she turned around, she felt something grab the back of her robes. Whoever grabbed the back of her robes pulled her backwards into the classroom and made her turn around.

"Look what we have here," Sirius spat, angrily, "a little mouse standing at the door."

Gail really didn't want to be there, she would rather melt into the ground. She couldn't really say she wasn't eavesdropping, because she had wanted to. She really was quite clumsy like that. She should have just kept walking. Flustered, she tried to free her robes from Sirius' grasp to no avail. She distinctly heard him making a "tsk" sound.

James was frowning at her. His glasses had slid down his nose a little. It was almost cute. When he spoke, he was only holding back from yelling by a hair, "maybe we were too nice to you. You were the one that told Evans we were going to prank her, weren't you? And now we can't even make her cauldron explode, and she's always surrounded by a group of people."

"Yes, I told her," Gail tediously plucked up her courage. She had a sinking feeling in her stomach.

Peter snickered excitedly to himself, until he received a glare from the other three.

"And you were planning on listening to our plans, so that you could leak information to Evans," James continued, running an aggravated hand through his messy hair, "or maybe you were collecting information to help Filch catch us."

At that moment, Gail noted how tired he looked. Well, spinning words around him wouldn't be too hard, right? He wasn't the only one that seemed exhausted. All four of them looked tired.

"No, I was about to walk away," Gail stated, calmly, "I have no intention of interrupting your pranks, because the longer it's put off, the worse it will be for Lily."

Peter piped up, "can you believe that, Prongs? Someone who almost failed two classes is trying to sound smart!"

Gail didn't have time to wonder how Peter knew she had almost failed two classes. James and Sirius had pulled wands on her. Whatever they had planned, they certainly didn't give her time to get her wand out. Not that she would have even tried to duel them. As a natural pacifist, she knew that she couldn't win against Potter and Black and there was no chance that she could run away.

Gail took a small breath and squeezed her eyes shut, willing for the two boys to get it over with quickly.

"Furnunculus," Sirius said from behind her.

Luckily, James shouted "stupefy" so that she didn't even have time to notice how painful the boils were. Her entire body felt numb. Somehow, she held herself up for a few moments. Peter, always one to join in, had also pulled out his wand. She heard him say "stupefy" a few seconds after Potter. She felt her legs give way as the stun spell took effect. Sirius grunted, pulling at the back of her robes. At that moment, Gail cursed her weight. It was embarrassing, even if her mind was slowly blacking out.

She heard someone sigh and mumbled softly before everything went dark.

* * *

The stun spell didn't wear off for a long time. It felt like she had been unconscious for days. She finally came to, no thanks to the boys. With a huge headache, Gail tried to move around or at least reach her wand. She found that she couldn't do either in the small cupboard. The cupboard that she had been stored in had been locked.

Gail cursed her size again. If she had been smaller, she could have reached her wand and at least blown the wooden cupboard up.

Luckily, she heard footsteps. Within a minute, the cupboards were flung open. Gail was momentarily blinded. When her eyes finally focused, she saw Lily Evans staring back at her. Lily looked absolutely mortified.

"Do I really look that bad?" Gail questioned sarcastically, attempting to stumble out of the cupboard, and promptly falling onto her face.

Lily yanked on her arm, pulling her to her feet, "hold on, Gail. I'll take you to the hospital wing."

Gail took a good look at Lily's face. There were worry lines on the girl's lovely face. She smelt like something had been burning. The four boys had probably attempted to set her on fire, or something equally "clever."

"How did you find me?" Gail asked quietly, feeling a scratchy lump in the back of her throat. She realized how parched she felt. Her stomach was also quite empty, and was making embarrassing growling sounds.

"I received an owl this morning telling me where you were," Lily responded, draping Gail's arm around her neck. Gail wondered at how strong the redhead really was. She was tiny compared to Gail, who wasn't exactly light. When the feeling slowly returned to her legs, she could feel her wand resting in her pocket. Gail made an effort to carry some of her own weight.

"When I got to this class, there was fireworks and a dungbomb, amongst other things," Lily continued, "there was also quite a strong hex on the cupboard."

Gail groaned. She had been the perfect bait for a person who couldn't stand it when a weak person was bullied, "and you got through all of that just fine?"

Lily laughed spitefully, "the fireworks startled me, but the rest was easy once I figured out that it was a trap. Potter and his friends were never overly creative when they can't embarrass me."

Gail would have laughed, but the pain of being locked in a cupboard for a day negated all humour she could find. Lily helped her all the way to the hospital wing. Their pace was painfully slow, but it seemed that the hallways were deserted. By the time that they had reached the infirmary, Gail was feeling as comfortable with Lily as she was with Myrtle.

"Thank you for coming for me, Lily," Gail said quietly, "it's likely that they would have left me in there for a few days."

"They're prats," Lily glared at the door to the infirmary, "none of their little tricks would have ever worked on me."

At Lily's anger, Gail found her lip twitching upwards. Within the last twenty minutes, she had found that Lily was more steam than fire. She stomped around angrily, but she never actually brought action against anyone. Gail couldn't think of anything to say to that, so she just nodded her head in agreement before pushing the large, double doors open.

Madam Pomfrey descended on her like a fly to a fat man sitting in the sun. Clucking her tongue, she dragged Gail to a bed. With a flick of her wand, Gail was dressed in the white robes of a patient.

"You come here too often, _Miss_ Forester," Pomfrey grumbled, rolling one of the teenager's sleeves up,"you should learn to avoid hexes, or at least learn a protection spell."

Gail frowned. It wasn't her fault, was it? Bad luck and running into Potter were her excuses. She turned her head to examine some of the boils that covered her exposed arm. A number had exploded after rubbing against the wood of the cupboard for such a long time. Madam Pomfrey forced some potions down her throat. Gail noted that one was a sleeping potion, and the other was probably to remove the boils.

Pomfrey worked quickly, applying salve to the exploded boils. When she was finished, she applied some of the salve to Gail's face. Apparently, the crusty puss on her face was from, you guessed it, more opened boils. Pomfrey was done in a few minutes.

"You'll have some very small scars from some of your boils, but they shouldn't be too noticeable. They might even disappear over time. Sleep here tonight, you can go to class in the morning," Pomfrey commanded, shooting a look over her shoulder at Lily, before walking away.

Lily took a few steps forward, and was standing beside Gail's bed. Lily looked put out. She was constantly chewing on her lip, and wouldn't make eye contact.

"Lily?" Gail finally asked, tilting her head to the side, "do you need something? The sleeping potion is going to start working eventually."

Lily's gaze snapped to her, "I just wanted to thank you again. You really stuck your neck out for me even though we're not close friends. You knew you could get hurt. It was really brave of you."

Gail scratched her head, feeling a little pleased with herself at the compliment, but it wasn't like she had done it for those reasons.

"I couldn't let down the Griffindor name," Gail joked weakly, "besides, if you got hurt, who would hold things in Care of Magical Creatures? I don't think Jo would want to do it."

Lily laughed heartily, nodding her head before she gestured at the door, "I had better get going. I'll see you tomorrow in Transfiguration."

Gail nodded, watching the girl leave. She would finally be able to collect her thoughts, which had been skewed around. The past few days had been more than enough excitement for her. She would have to do her best to avoid Potter and Black in the future.

* * *

**Author Note:**

Thank you for reading this chapter! I had so much fun writing it. It looks like Gail and Lily are on their way to becoming friends. Grr...

Leave me a review if you have any questions or find errors/plot holes.

Anyway, without further ado, here is your prize for reading the chapter! Voila! _Deleted Scene #2!_

_-Rue_

_

* * *

  
_

**Sirius Black, I chose you!**

"Yes, Lily Evans is still in the class," Gail grinned, winking at Sirius sweetly. She ignored the vomiting sounds that escaped Mister Padfoot.

James grinned dreamily, "really? She's still in there? Do you know when she'll be coming out?"

"Oh~" Gail pouted, "she usually stays behind to help Professor Slughorn, you know? Why do you want her if you could have me, Jamsie?"

James immediately appeared a little green in the face. He took a few steps away from Gail, echoing similar sounds to what Sirius made previously. Gail pouted at his response, lifting her chubby had to flick her tawny hair our of her face.

"What about me?" Peter asked excitedly, taking a step towards her.

Gail fixed her dark brown eyes on the little, rat-like boy. She snorted ungracefully, "I am way too beautiful for you. You should stick to girls of your own caliber. Really, even Rebum Lackluster is more attractive than you."

Peter looked really put out. That was the first time a girl shut him down so completely, apparently.

Remus, on the other hand, finally looked up from his book with a questioning look on his face, "did you just call me Rebum Lackluster?"

"Oye, Rebum!" James laughed at his friend's expense, "the girl obviously caught your true character in your new nickname!"

Remus gently tucked his book into his bag, before fixing his soft gaze on the plump girl, "maybe I should ask you out, then, since you know me so well."

"Oh?" Gail tilted her head to the side, "it won't do you any good, dear."

Sire Moony looked perplexed, "why?"

"Because** I'm in LOVE WITH SIRIUS BLACK**!" With that, Gail flung her arms around Sirius, engulfing the handsome teenager in a bear hug. She squeezed him so tightly that his face began turning purple.

"H-help!" Sirius wheezed, feebly reaching his hand out for James.

"Stupefy," James said cooly, watching the blubber fall to the ground with.

"Prongs! My hero! My saviour! I would kiss you if you were a dame!" Sirius cried happily.

At this, Peter burst into his normal, high-pitched laughter. Even Remus joined in. Soon the four boys were laughing together without a care. They had totally forgotten the reason why they were standing in front of a classroom.

Together, the four marauders walked off into the sunset... Until they found Severus Snape, whom they promptly started hexing.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

For the next few weeks leading up to the Christmas Holidays, Lily stuck to Gail's side. Having a pair of emerald eyes follow here everywhere was starting to make her feel uncomfortable. Being shadowed constantly did little to improve their friendship. Gail had become more on edge.

"Lily?" Gail forced herself to call down the hallway one afternoon. She watched the redhead nervously take a step from behind a statue of a rather ugly witch.

"Is there a reason why you've been following me around for the past two weeks?" Gail asked quietly, fighting to keep her voice from hinting that she was annoyed by the lack of privacy.

Lily, for once in the two weeks, wouldn't even look at Gail. There was no eye contact for a few minutes. The silence was rather awkward. Anyone who walked down the hallway would probably question why there were two girls facing each other, separated as if they were going to duel. It was a duel, all right, just not like the normal ones. The two girls were competing based on who could stay quiet and have no eye contact for the longest.

Sighing, Gail finally gave up. She knew that Potter wouldn't bother her if she skirted around the places he usually haunted, "if you wanted to walk with me, you should have just said so. Where's Jo?"

"She went the direct root to save m- us a seat," Lily finally conceded, giving Gail a grateful look as she walked forward.

Gail would rather have the motherly Lily walking beside her than dogging her shadow. Of course, she would not admit that the loneliness had evacuated her life, and she would never admit that it was because of four prats.

"I always wondered how you could get to class without having things happen to you," Lily commented, "I never thought you were... well, clever enough to find different routes around the school."

"Self defense," Gail nodded, "I figured out how to get around school in the first year. Staying away for the pranksters, the Slytherins and the Ravenclaws."

"They've started getting people to call them 'the Marauders'," Lily commented, with a sour look on her face, "like their stupid group needed a name."

"Well," Gail grinned at her eminent joke, "it saves us time in calling them what they deserved to be called. Think about how much time we'll save instead of calling them 'Mr. Bed-wetter Pettigrew, Mr. Doesn't-own-hairbrush Potter, Mr. Sleeps-around Black, and Mr. Too-timid-to-speak Lupin'."

Lily laughed happily, "how did you know that he doesn't own a hair brush?"

"If he owns one, he doesn't know what it's for," Gail commented dryly, rolling her eyes.

The girls walked on quietly for a few moments until Lily broke the silence.

"Gail, something just fell out of your pocket."

Perplexed as to what it was, Gail turned around to see the folded picture sitting on the ground. She was quite glad that Lily had informed her. It was a rare photo of her father, and the first ever photo of the kitten. She hurriedly picked up the photo, and inspected it for dirt.

"A photo?" Lily asked curiously, peeking over the girl's shoulder, "aw! What a cute kitten!"

Gail looked up, and smiled brilliantly at Lily, her puffy cheeks curving a little bit. She nodded, "yes, my father bought him for me. I'll be able to bring him to Hogwarts after Christmas."

The two girls continued towards class, chatting about Gail's new kitten, and their shared love of small animals. There was a very gentle air about the girls, which was ruined within a second by one messy haired boy.

"Oh, look over there Padfoot," James Potter practically yelled across the hall, "looks like someone let the little mouse out of her nice, wooden cage. Evans must be Forester's new keeper!"

That stroked Lily's temper quickly. Gail, who knew that Potter was only trying to get a raise out of Lily, tugged the redhead's arm. The "marauders" had not bothered Lily before today because she had never shown up at the same time as Gail. The two girls entered the class as quickly as they could, and took seats near the front.

Gail heard Sirius' voice behind behind them, "our prank seems to have worked, Prongs!Congratulations."

Another, gentler voice responded sadly, "you did notice the scars on her face, Padfoot?"

"Who cares about some ugly girl?" Sirius let out a bark-like laugh, "besides, the small scar beside her nose gives her some character. Guys like that sort of thing. She should be thanking me."

That was the last that Gail heard. It took all of her willpower not to take any offense to being called "some ugly girl." Lily, on the other hand, glared daggers at the boys for the rest of the class.

* * *

For some reason, Lily had recently taken to dragging not only Jo, but also Gail, along wherever she went. To the bathroom, to classes, and to the Great Hall. Gail found it alarming that such a girl couldn't go to the loo by herself, for whatever reason. Being constantly surrounded by Lily and Jo began to make her feel a little tired.

They were nice girls, really, but it was a difficult transition between being alone and mostly ignored to being the target jokes spun by the Marauders. At least she was able to sneak off to Myrtle's bathroom for some alone-time. She usually brought her Magical Creatures textbook. She had spent many hours admiring the diagrams of different creatures. Her favourite creatures were dragons and crups. Most people were amazed by dragons, especially muggleborns. Gail was no different, but she also enjoyed looking at the crups, too. They looked just like cute, small dogs.

Today, though, she was walking by herself after having astronomy. Both Lily and Joe had Arithmacy, instead, so they couldn't keep her company. There was nothing for them to worry about, though, because the Marauders had Divination.

As she was thinking about heading to the Great Hall for dinner, she accidentally bumped shoulders with someone else, who looked like he wasn't paying attention either.

"Sorry," they both muttered at the same time, before taking a good look at who they had bumped into.

Gail's gaze trailed the boy's outline. His light brown hair fell gracefully to his ears. Gail was quite shocked that he made eye contact with her. He had soft brown eyes. All in all, he wasn't as attractive as his two friends, but the kindness in his eyes made up for it.

Gail took a few steps backwards, keeping her eyes fixed on the boy suspiciously. He was usually glued to a book. It was strange to see him standing there. She had forgotten that he was in her Astronomy class. Gail inched away from him slowly, only to be halted.

"Wait," Remus spoke in a pained tone, "can I... Can I have a word with you?"

Gail made eye contact again, staring into Remus' pleading eyes. He seemed somewhat sorrowful. She slowly nodded her head, halting her retreat for the moment. He seemed to breath a sigh of relief for a moment, before stiffening again.

"I would like to apologize on my part... I couldn't stop them when they..." Remus took a step forward.

And Gail took a step backwards, "when they hexed me and locked me in a very small cupboard for a day?"

Taken slightly aback, Remus nodded, "I sent Lily the letter telling her where you were early. I know that doesn't excuse me, or them, but..."

"I get it," Gail stated sharply, ignoring the wounded look on the gentle marauder's face, "I know I wouldn't have died in there. It's fine, no harm done."

Frowning, Remus shook his head, "you call the scars on your face 'no harm'?"

"Madam Pomfrey said that they'd go away, eventually," Gail commented nonchalantly. What were a few marks on her face when she had always been 'ugly' anyway.

There was an extremely awkward pause between the two. They were two people that normally wouldn't ever talk to each other. Remus scratched his neck nervously, diverting his gaze.

"So the worst they could come up with was a fireworks, a dungbomb and charm on the cupboard?" Gail asked, attempting to make small talk.

Remus turned a little rosy, before nodding, "well, Prongs would never do anything to seriously hurt Lily Evans. He fancies her... He just doesn't know how to get her attention properly."

Gail couldn't hide her smile. She almost felt pity for Potter; it was very obvious that Lily loathed him. He had her attention, but he'd received it the completely wrong way.

"Are you sure you should be telling me that?" Gail asked softly, turning her head to survey down the hall. It was deserted.

"I figured that you weren't as 'nasty' as Sirius believes," Remus stated wryly, his gaze following hers, "I heard your conversation with Peter that night, and we still haven't been punished for the Halloween feast."

"Mmm," Gail responded, "no, I didn't tell anyone that Peter admitted that you four did it. Besides, everyone knew you four did it anyway, they just didn't have proof."

"Well, thanks anyway. You saved us quite a few detentions," Remus nodded, "uh, I'd better get going before they come looking for me."

With that, Remus hurried off down the hall. Gail was glad that there was at least one agreeable, moderately likeable person in the group dubbed "The Marauders" by James Potter. Shaking her head, she slowly followed after the sandy haired boy. She lost sight of him quickly, but she figured that was just because he was walking faster. She hastened her pace towards the Great Hall.

At dinner time, she found Lily and the other Griffindor girls. There was an empty space beside one of the blondes, and she plopped herself down. Immediately, the girls all turned to her with a curious look. She was usually not late for meals.

"Sorry, some boy wanted to talk to me," Gail said calmly, shrugging.

Gail had never had the chance to make five girl's speechless before. She found it rather amusing. She attempted to keep her face straight as she scooped some food onto her plate.

"Who?" One of the blondes piped up. Gail had been getting better at recalling names recently. The one that spoke was named Amber Button. She was the one that usually started gossiping.

"Oh, leave her alone, Amber!" It was Avalon Clack's turn to talk, "she's not that kind of girl, you know!"

"Not pretty enough," Gail said around a mouthful of potatoes. Her bluntness caused a fit of giggles in the girls.

"Wait... What?" The clueless voice of Melanie Range trailed off, "what are you laughing at? Guys?" This just made the others laugh harder.

Jo turned to Lily after calming her laughter down, "going home during Christmas, Lily?"

Lily nodded enthusiastically, "I can't wait to see my parents and Tuney. I miss them so much."

Amber pouted, "that means that the Marauders will leave us alone this Christmas... Unless Gail is here. Gail?"

Gail spluttered, and shook her head before swallowing her mouthful of roast beef, "sorry, I'm going home during the holidays. I don't want my dad to be alone."

Amber looks saddened, but Avalon nodded knowingly, "well, it'll be quieter here, then. The four of us can even have snowball fights without being interrupted."

* * *

Christmas break seemed so much longer than the last two years. Gail had been happy to spend some time with her father, but she was also glad to be heading back to Hogwarts. Her kitten, she found, was a boy. She had decided to name the black silver tabby Mati.

Mati was an intelligent kitten with inquisitive grey-blue eyes. The kitten had been happily catching rats and mice since it arrived at Hogwarts. One Saturday morning, it had cornered a rather fat rat in the Griffindor common room. Licking his lips, Mati prowled forward. The rat scooted as far back into the corner as her could, practically shaking out of fear.

"There you are Mati," Gail walked up behind the kitten, who had grown quite a bit over the weeks. Mati could almost look Mrs. Norris in the eyes, "oh Mati, you scared that poor rat into the corner."

Gently, Gail pushed the kitten to the side and reached her hand out to the rat. It had to be one of the student's pets. She picked the rat up gently. Gently, she rubbed a thumb over the rat's head, she looked around. There wasn't anyone in the common room, most of the students were still asleep. Gail had woken up early, and had decided to go for breakfast.

"Where's your owner, hmm?" Gently, she placed the rat onto her shoulder, "well, come with me then, I'll get you something to eat at breakfast."

Turning around, she found Sirius Black staring at her suspiciously, "talking to yourself? That's sane."

"I was not, someone's pet rat was about to become dinner for my cat," Gail pointed at her shoulder. Sirius' eyes started to bulge slightly, "is he yours?"

"Uh..." Sirius seemed unable to answer for a second, "no no, that's Peter's rat. I'll take him up to our dormitory, if you don't mind."

"Oh, okay," Gail gently plucked the rat off of her shoulder, placing the rat carefully in Sirius' outstretched hand, "tell Peter that I'm sorry his rat was almost eaten. I'll try to keep a closer eye on Mati in the future."

"Mati? Odd name..." Sirius muttered, obviously displeased about having to carry the rat. He stalked away and up the stairs rather quickly.

Gail shrugged, a little sad that the little rat would be returned to its owner so quickly. She hadn't even learned the rat's name. Slowly, she trudged towards the Great Hall with her kitten following closely behind her.

* * *

**Author Note:**

Thank you for reading up to chapter 4! Because of this monumental occasion, there will be a bonus deleted scene. Well, maybe not a deleted scene. It will be one of few scenes that are seen from the eyes of the marauders.

Without further ado, here is a _deleted scene_ and an _extra scene_.

-Rue

* * *

Extra scene: **Pet Rat**

As soon as Sirius entered the dormitory, he sat the rat down on the floor, "okay, Wormtail, time for you to turn back."

The rat seemed to grow. Within a second, Peter Pettigrew was standing in front of Sirius with a bashful look on his face. "Hey Padfoot," Peter drawled, scuffing his toe absently on the ground.

"What do you think you were doing, Wormtail? We agreed not to use our animagi unless it was a full moon," Sirius growled, giving the boy a stern look.

"Wassamatter?" James' voice drifted out from under the covers of a bed, "itso early..."

"Messier Wormtail decided to sneak around in his animal form, Prongs," Sirius grumbled, eyeing Remus' bed. It was normal for Moony to sleep in on weekends. He was an extremely heavy sleeper.

"Hrm... Late night with your girlfriend, Wormy?" James' chuckle emanated from below the covers. He flung the covers off and draped his legs over the side of the bed. One side of James' hair was perfectly flat, and the other side looked like a porcupine. Shoving his glasses onto his face, he blinked around blearily.

"How'd Sirius catch you?" James asked, fixing his eyes on Peter.

Peter grinned, turning a little pink in the face, "Gail Forester's cat cornered me. I was about to change back when she showed up and well... She rescued me."

James' eyes bulged out, similarly to how Sirius had looked minutes ago, "Lily's friend? Peter! Did she know it was you?"

Peter shook his head, speaking happily, "no, she was really nice. She ever rubbed my head. Sirius told her that I was my own pet."

Sirius finally shrugged his bad mood off. He grinned and messed up Peter's hair, "just don't do it again. You can walk through the common room in the morning like everyone else. You don't have to sneak around, it's not like anyone cares that you spent all night with your girlfriend."

"I didn't!" Peter protested, "I got hungry this morning, so I went down to the kitchen. I figured I could practice changing and holding my animagus form on the way back."

Sirius rolled his eyes. Peter was the only one that still needed to practice. If he didn't practice between full moons, he would forget how to change, or he would forget how to stay in his rat form. Wormtail was a bit of an air head like that.

"So you like Gail?" James asked, grinning cheekily at his friends, "you think she's cute?"

Peter looked shocked, and quickly shook his head, "no! She just has a way with animals, that's all. I felt like I could trust her when she offered me her hand."

"Most girls would scream," Sirius commented, stroking his chin.

"And let their cat chow down," James added.

"Thank goodness she's not normal!" Peter smiled, "now, I'm going back to bed."

"Keep it down," Remus huffed, rolling over and continuing to sleep deeply.

* * *

Deleted Scene #3:** Mud or Jello?**

The cupboard opened to reveal a familiar redhead. Lily stared at her with cold, emerald eyes. The lights behind her half-blinded Gail. A sneer formed on Lily Evans' face. Several dark figures moved behind the redhead. Gail could make one out to be Severus Snape. The others must have been Hufflepuffs.

"This is what you get for crossing us, you filthy, fat halfblood," Lily spat, holding her wand at Gail's throat, "your betrayal will not go unpunished."

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE, EVANS!" A red beam hit Lily in the back, stunning her and effectively dropping the girl to the ground.

Spells were hurled around the room. The Hufflepuffs knew they stood no chance, so they ran as soon as they could while hurling spells over their shoulders.

"Are you alright, Forester?" James stepped over Lily's body and offered a hand to Gail. Stumbling out of the cupboard, she slipped slightly, falling straight into James' arms,. James smiled as he caught Gail, "whoa, easy there."

James eased the podgy girl out of his arms and grinned down at her, "looks like your hiding spot didn't work too well."

Sirius peered over James' shoulder, looking at the tawny haired girl, "you're lucky we got here in time. Evans' gang likes to dabble in the dark arts."

Remus stood on the girl's other side, "Gail! You look horrible! You should have been more careful. What would we do without you?"

With that, Remus launched himself forward, hugging the plump girl tightly, "who else would ease my pain after a rough transformation!"

"Oh Remus," Gail sobbed frantically, clutching at Remus' clothes, "I was so scared!"

Remus gently rubbed the back of Gail's head, "there there, it's fine. Nothing happened."

Sirius frowned, grabbing Gail's shoulder and pulling her into a hug. He effectively separated his lover from the arms of Remus, who always tried to steal her away, "there there, Gail."

Gail looked shocked, "what? But last time you had James hex me when I tried to- oomph."

"What are you talking about?" Sirius laughed, pushing Gail's head into his muscular shoulder, "I don't remember that happening!"

"That's it, Black! It's time to settle this!" Remus hollered, removing his robes and his shirt to reveal several scars on his pale chest, "I've decided that we must do HAND TO HAND combat for the girl."

Sirius released Gail. In slow motion, Sirius stripped his robes and shirt off, too. He tackled Remus without another word. Chairs skidded across the room. Peter, James and Gail stared at the two as they wrestled.

"This would be better if they were wrestling in mud... or jello."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Normally, Herbology was a fun class. This was mostly because of the change of scenery. The students weren't forced to sit in a classroom. There was slightly more freedom in the class. The marauders were usually too busy doing the hands-on work to bother anyone. Today was the exception to the "fun class" rule.

Today, Professor Sprout had thought it best to make groups herself, something she normally wouldn't do. It was understandable why, though, because the marauders were less likely to cause problems in the class if they were separated. At least Sprout knew enough to keep members of the same house together.

Gail was only listening to the group list half heartedly . The Hufflepuffs had already been placed in groups. There was almost no chance of being placed in a group with one of the other girls, because Sprout had used an alphabetical list to create boy/girl groups of two.

"Amber Button and Sirius Black," Professor Sprout called, handing the potted plant to Amber, who looked extremely giddy.

"Avalon Clack and Remus Lupin. Lily Evans and Peter Pettigrew," Sprout gave plants to both girls, giving a small apologetic look to Lily before whispering, "make sure you don't go easy on him."

"Abigail Forester and James Potter," with a groan, Gail waddled up to the professor and received the plant. At least she hadn't been paired with Black, that would have made her life miserable. Potter was only slightly better. Gail was mildly jealous of the Joan and Melanie, the only two left without a partner, and therefore were paired together. Jo patted both her and Lily on the shoulder, grinning as she grabbed the plant.

"Attention everyone," Sprout called their attention back, "I have given you the plant that you will be taking care of until the end of the year. Everyone has received a different plant. It will be up to you to keep the plant alive, healthy and happy until the end, but remember that you are not to take the plants out of the greenhouse. Anyone caught doing so will receive a failing grade. With that said, you can have until the end of the class to get to know your partner."

There was a collective groan in the classroom. Students shuffled around to meet up with their partners. Gail knew there was no chance that Potter would ever come over. Sliding her bag over her shoulder and picking up the plant, she slowly made her way over to Potter's table, where he was sitting alone.

And he didn't look very happy about being paired with her. She assumed that he was cursing the O in his name for not being an A. Whatever a Patter was, with that name, he would have been grouped with Lily.

"We got a Flitterbloom," Gail eventually muttered, placing the plant on the table in front of Potter. His glare shifted from her to the plant.

"Stupid plant," James grumbled.

"Stupid potter," Gail responded, the corners of her lips turning up at the bad joke.

It took James a moment to understand that she wasn't insulting him. He grinned at the joke, but quickly recovered and continued to glare around.

"Well..." Gail had run out of conversation starters. The two had an awkward pause.

"Uh," James scratched his head, "so a Flitterbloom, huh?"

"It's a useless plant," Gail said helpfully. She had become used to making useless conversation with the other girls in Griffindor over the last month.

James snickered momentarily, "don't blame the pot."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Gail nodded, approving the apparent change in James' mood.

Which drastically changed when he glanced over at Peter and Lily. The frown immediately reformed on his face. Scowling, he turned his eyes to Sirius, who was making the most of Amber's crush. He had already influenced her to start taking care of the plant while he lounged happily in a chair. James' eyes then slid to Remus, who was having an in-depth conversation with his partner about something intelligent. Their conversation slowly turned into a heated argument, because neither could agree on the best way to take care of the plant.

Gail watched Potter's scowl deepen. There was nothing she could do, so she carefully picked the plant up and placed it next to the glass wall of the greenhouse. The plant would need watering once in a while. It wasn't an overly difficult plant to keep alive.

"Potter," Gail started, attempting to start a conversation again. She failed, he didn't even respond, "flitterblooms don't like manure, so all we have to do is water it and watch it grow."

"Uh huh," James responded weakly, not even turning his head to speak with her.

"So I'd like for you to keep an eye on it once in a while," Gail continued, "I'll water it whenever I can. You just need to check in on it once in a while, in case I forget."

Seeing James bob his head in agreement, Gail moved away. Luckily, Jo and Melanie were done discussing their plans. Jo looked over at her and grinned.

"Abigail?" Melanie let out a bubbly laugh, "why did Professor Sprout call you that, Gail?"

"That's my full name," Gail explained to the slower Griffindor, "I guess my nickname is easier to remember. Most people just call me that."

Jo grinned at Gail and ignored her Herbology partner. She responded after slapping Gail on the shoulder, "tough luck on your partner, Gail. It's too bad he didn't get stuck with Lily. She would have given him what-for."

"Yeah," Gail somewhat agreed, but she would deal with problems in her own way. She might not have been as forward with Potter as Lily would have been, but he did agree to help work on the plant with her. That was the least that she could ask for.

* * *

"Miss Forester, can I ask you to remain after class?" Kettleburn questioned after an enthralling class of caring for bowtruckles, a dangerous twinkle in his eyes. It was really no wonder why the man got along so well with Dumbledore.

"Yes Professor," Gail nodded her head. She had rapidly become an avid fan of the class, and of Professor Kettleburn. She had often performed minor tasks for him, such as helping to set up for classes or cleanup afterwards, and she often helped feed the various creatures that Kettleburn took care of. In fact, these tasks had been growing in number after Christmas.

Long after the other students had marched towards the castle for lunch, Gail remained behind. She had finished cleaning up after the class. The creatures were snug in their cage, and half asleep. She was a little saddened that the bowtruckles would be sent back to the ministry's beast department.

"Ah, Gail," Kettleburn grinned at the girl's handiwork, "well done, I've not seen someone so prone to caring for the creatures of this world in a while."

Gail tilted her head to the side, pondering what the professor could mean by that. Certainly, she usually found his class to be easier than the others, but that was because she had read the textbook many times and she just had to think of the creatures as little pets and her maternal instincts would take over.

"What I'm trying to say is... well," Kettleburn paused for a moment, taking the time to shine his hook on the material of his coat, "the ministry asked me to recommend a student for the summer internship. They were looking for someone to carry out menial tasks in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. I offered your name up, although you're only in your third year, you show the gumption of a sixth year."

Gail was a little speechless. Her heart was pounding like crazy. This was the first time that she had been rewarded for being good at _something_ at Hogwarts. She just had a few questions for Kettleburn. She wasn't overly familiar with how the ministry was run.

"This Department... what do they do? What would I be doing there? Paperwork?" Gail asked inquisitively, staring at the professor with knowledge hungry eyes.

"Ah, well you wouldn't be working directly for them. I'm assuming that you would be working in one of the creature nurseries," Kettleburn responded, "you would be helping to take care of whatever creatures have been left there by wizards, such as the bowtruckles that we're sending back. Everything from dragons to blast-ended skrewt... But as an intern, you'd mostly be cleaning the stalls."

That was all Gail needed to know. She didn't like the idea of sitting behind some desk all summer. She grinned happily, "thank you professor. That sounds like fun."

Kettleburn shook his head, "it won't be an easy job, Miss Forester, but I think you're the only student that would willingly accept the job. I'll let the ministry know that you're interested."

With that, Kettleburn motioned to the forbidden forest, "now that we're done talking about the internship, I'd like you to help me in the forest. I can't move around as good as I used to. The thestrals and unicorns need feeding."

Gail's eyes lit up. She simply adored feeding the two types of animals. She couldn't say which she preferred, because she had never seen a thestral, but she knew what they were. She had seen meat being devoured before her eyes by an invisible creature. She assumed that they would comfort the eyes of whoever had viewed death.

Today, Kettleburn told her to feed the unicorns by herself today. He wasn't too far away, though, just in case. Gail let the wondrous creatures come up to her and take the food from her hands. Most of the time, though, the creatures were too skittish, so she would gently roll the fruit or vegetables to them. Today, one of the younger unicorns brushed up against her, allowing Gail to rub the animal's side. After being fed, the creatures darted back into the forest.

Gail turned around to see the professor giving her an approving nod before throwing some more meat to the ground.

Gail had never been overly interested in sports before Hogwarts. Not much had changed upon entering the wizarding school. She hadn't been to a quidditch game in the three years of her being at Hogwarts. She was all for cheering on Griffindor, but at the same time, she just didn't understand the game. Maybe if they rode on the backs of hippogriff or dragons, the game would be more interesting.

Somehow, she was sitting in the stands with Lily Evans, cheering at the last match of the season. The match was between Griffindor and Ravenclaw. Lily screamed as loudly as she could for the red and yellow team, ignoring the fact that James Potter was one of the chasers. Gail was excited to see Jo flying.

"Jo is on the team," Lily had said earlier, "don't you want to cheer for her, too?"

Gail had grudgingly agreed to come and cheer for Jo. She couldn't remember the names of the other people on the team. Weakly, she waved her flag around. Every once in a while, Lily would use her elbow nudge Gail in the ribs.

"Look! Jo just stopped the quaffle!" Lily exclaimed, pointing at the Griffindor net, "she's such a good keeper! There goes River! Augh, why would he pass to Potter?"

Gail stared at the redhead for a moment. The girl's face was red from shouting too much.

A sharp whistle came from behind Lily after James had effectively thrown the basketball through the hoop. Gail glanced over her shoulder to see Sirius Black dressed to the nine in Griffindor gear and cheering wildly for his best friend. She couldn't hid the smile on her face at that moment. Black just looked adorable in his face paint. His nose was painted red, and he had golden whiskers. Gail assumed the paint was meant to make him look like a lion. Peter and Remus were both cheering too, but somewhat less frantically than Sirius.

Within a second, everyone around her was shouting and hugging each other. Gail wondered what happened while she had looked away. Lily was calling something about a snitch, but Gail couldn't really make it out. The Griffindors were just so loud that individual yells couldn't be made out.

Gradually, the crowd dispersed, leaving Gail staring at her companion. Feeling rather clueless, Gail couldn't understand what happened. She knew that they probably won, from the reaction of the other Griffindors, but she didn't understand why.

"Our seeker caught the snitch," Lily said gently, "which gave us 150 points, and ended the game."

"I see," Gail nodded, "so Griffindor won the 'Championship'?"

Lily nodded, "so we'll probably be celebrating well into the night."

Gail almost felt the blood drain out of her face, "we're going to 'celebrate' with the rest of Griffindor?"

Lily laughed and shook her head at her friend, "no, we can go to our dormitory. I'm sure Jo will be too tired to party with the others for very long."

There was a huge party in the Griffindor common room when the two girls arrived. It looked like everyone had a drink, and there was food everywhere. A large cake sat near the fire. It had once been shaped like a large snitch, but now it had many pieces missing.

The Marauders were the centre of attention, surrounded by a bunch of other Griffindors. It looked like James had been making a speech about how wonderful their quidditch team was. The boys were too busy to notice Lily and Gail sneak through the common room and up the stairs, though Gail noted that James' head snapped around quite a bit, as if his "Lily Meter" was going off.

Jo was sitting on the end of her bed when they got upstairs, brushing her damp hair.

"Congratulations, Jo! You were marvellous," Lily ran over to her best friend, locking the girl into a hug.

Jo's dark gaze trailed over Lily's shoulder, "hey Gail! How was your first quidditch game?"

Gail shrugged, slightly embarrassed, "I really don't get what's going on. I got kind of lost when I looked the wrong way for a second. But congratulations on the win, anyway."

Both Lily and Jo laughed at her before exchanging knowing glances.

* * *

Deleted Scene: **End of the Year Grades**

On the train ride home, Peter was saving a compartment for his friends. Bored, he pulled out a special piece of parchment paper. He quickly tapped his wand to the paper. Snickering, he said a few names between each tap.

Sirius slid the door to the compartment open, and shot a grin at Peter, "looking at other people's marks again, Wormy? How'd your little Gail do this year?

"I don't know, I didn't check yet. It wouldn't have been right without you," Peter nodded, tapping the paper, "Gail Forester."

The following showed up on the paper:

**Abigail Lyre Forester**

_Astronomy: 71  
Care of Magical Creatures: 116  
Charms: 73  
Defense Against the Dark Arts: 67  
History of Magic: 53  
Herbology: 86  
Potions: 59  
Transfiguration: 82_

"Oooh, naughty girl not studying enough for history of magic," Sirius smiled, staring over Peter's shoulder.

The door to the compartment slid open again. James strode in. His ego had apparently been enlarged after Griffindor won the Inter-House Championship.

"Have you looked at Evans' grades yet, Peter?" James asked, cockily messing his hair up.

"No, I knew you'd want to see it," Peter responded, again tapping his wand to the paper, "Lily Evans."

**Lily Evans**

_Arithmacy: 105  
Care of Magical Creatures: 97  
Charms: 100  
Defense Against the Dark Arts: 98  
History of Magic: 105  
Herbology: 92  
Potions: 230  
Transfiguration: 99_

James grinned, "she's received almost perfect in all of her classes. I've never been so proud in my life!"

Sirius snorted and rolled his eyes, "yeah yeah. Miss Perfect beat everyone in potions."

The door slid open again to reveal a very flustered Remus. He quickly shuffled in and closed the door behind him. Taking a seat next to Peter, he raised an eyebrow at Lily's grade.

"What?" James grinned, "you did better than her?"

"Can brooms fly?" Remus responded, pulling out his wand and tapping it on the paper, "James Potter."

"Hey Moony! That's not meant for your eyes!" James frowned, reaching for the paper, but not before both Remus and Peter had seen the marks.

**James Potter**

_Care of Magical Creatures: 68  
Charms: 100  
Defense Against the Dark Arts: 105  
Divination: 67  
History of Magic: 63  
Herbology: 82  
Potions: 73  
Transfiguration: 100_

"Tsk tsk, Prongs," Remus chided, "you did bad in history of magic, and both of your parents are wizards. Would it kill you to open a book once in a while?"

"Give me a break, Moony," James shifted restlessly, "it's not like I didn't get three marks that are 100 or higher."

* * *

**Author Note:**

Whoo! Chapter five! This is the last chapter of the marauders third year! On to summer vacation! Their next year is going to be dynamite! We're going to blow the lid off!

I hope you enjoyed the deleted scene. I put it before the author not this time because I would like to explain why I used numbers instead of letters. The end of the year marks [excluding OWLs and NEWTs] are graded on a scale of 100. Remember Hermione received an insanely high mark in Muggle Studies?

Anyway, I would like to mention that I did not plan the Herbology groups out. In fact, I named the Griffindor girls, and gave them a static personality before I even thought of having them by group by name. I was a little freaked out by the results. I made an alphabetical list of the boys, and then the girls. I paired the first four girls to the boys, and the last two girls were paired together. Look at these results...

_Amber Button  
Sirius Black_  
- the gossiper and the person that most gossip is based on

_Avalon Clack  
Remus Lupin_  
- both the most studious members of their gangs

_Lily Evans  
Peter Pettigrew_  
-possibly the worst pairing of a HP fanfic... EVER.

_Gail Forester  
James Potter_  
- never will be a pairing, unless it's one of my deleted scenes  
- a potter is also type of pot, they're usually rectangular. Sorry if you didn't get Gail's joke.

_Joan Thestile  
Melanie Range_  
-I regret not having Melanie and Peter together, their lack of brains would have been humorous

Thanks for reading! I will upload chapter 6 tomorrow.  
-Rue


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Fourth Year

Rain poured on the train platform named 9 ｾ. There was not a dry student on the train to Hogwarts. There was almost a race to get changed into dry, school robes. Gail had settled herself in a nice, empty compartment. She had changed quickly, and pulled her sopping wet hair into a ponytail. She couldn't really begrudge the rain, because they had such a dry, hot summer.

Briefly, she wondered where Lily and the other girls were. She had been too busy over the summer to send anyone of them a letter. Working in the ministry's fifth nursery had taken a lot of energy. When she wasn't working, she was either eating or sleeping. Her father was pleased to see her get out of the house once in a while, and if he was lonely, he kept it to himself.

Mati was asleep in her basket. She had been sleepy all day because of the rain. Gail kept the basket in between her and the window, on the seat, so that it would not be stepped on. Mati was a good cat. He was curled up, protecting himself from the cold, wet day.

The door to her compartment slid open, revealing a redhead with lovely emerald eyes. Apparently, Lily had hit a small growth spurt over the summer. She seemed more feminine than she had been at the end of the previous year. For a second, she seemed to ponder entering the compartment. Quickly, she turned her head and called down the hall.

"I found Gail, Jo. Get the others to come here, there's an empty compartment."

With that, Lily stepped in gracefully, taking a seat next to Gail, with a large smile on her face. Before she could open her mouth to say anything, the other four Griffindor girls entered the compartment too. Jo's jaw seemed to slacken somewhat almost immediately as she saw Gail.

"Wow Gail!" One of the blondes finally piped up, "I totally didn't recognize you. Good summer?"

Questioningly, Gail raised an eyebrow, and stared at Amber Button, who looked the same as the previous three years of school. The blonde stared back at her, waiting for a response.

"Yes," Gail nodded, "I was extremely busy this summer."

"Oh yeah," Jo remarked from her seat across from Gail, "I heard you worked as an intern at the ministry."

Lily's curious, penetrating stare finally made Gail look her way, "what is it, Lily? Do I have some breakfast left on my face?" Gail lifted her extremely tanned hand to her face, checking for food. There wasn't any there. She looked at the calluses on her fingers for a moment before turning her dark, brown eyes back to Lily.

Lily opened and closed her mouth a few times, attempting to respond, but she made no sound.

"You look like a potato," Melanie finally remarked, "like someone just plucked you out of the dirt and plopped you into some robes."

Avalon nudged the her friend with an elbow, "what Melanie means is that you seemed to have lost a lot of weight over the summer and we were wondering how you did it."

Gail stared around her, wondering why the other five girls were staring at her with curious expressions on their faces, "I didn't lose that much weight."

Lily patted Gail on the arm, "have you even looked at yourself in the mirror? It took me such a long time to realize it was you. Good grief, and now you're even taller than me, and I bet you weigh less than me too."

Gail hadn't noticed an increase in her height, but she had noticed that her uniform wasn't as tight on her arms and stomach anymore. She figured that she had gained a lot of unattractive muscle while she had been working.

Gail shrugged, "I didn't have time to look in a mirror most days. Your sense of beauty goes out the window after you shovel different kinds of animal droppings for eight hours or more a day."

The compartment door slid open again to reveal a ruthlessly handsome boy, "did someone say droppings?"

Sirius Black took his time, enjoying the stares that the six girls gave him. Flashing a grin, he moved over slightly to allow his friend to peek his head in.

"Oh, who's the new girl?" Sirius asked, his eye dropping to Gail. She almost felt like he was trying to read her mind while he studied her. His sultry grey eyes floated down to stare directly at her chest before moving back up to her face. This left Gail feeling that she had been violated. She looked over at Lily with pleading eyes.

"Ahem," Lily coughed pointedly, "close the door, Black. This compartment is full."

"I don't think so," Black grinned, "Prongs has been wanting to see you all summer, Evans."

With that, Sirius turned his gaze to the three blondes. Amber immediately pulled Avalon and Melanie to their feet, forcing them to leave the compartment. Smirking at having things his own way, Sirius threw himself into the newly evacuated seat next to Jo while. Likewise, James plopped himself in the seat next to Lily. Peter trailed in as well, and took the seat next to Sirius, not wanting to miss any of the action.

"How was your summer, Evans?" James grinned, reaching a had to his head to ensure that his hair was perfectly messy, "did you miss me?"

Lily couldn't help rolling her eyes at the lanky boy. She was obviously unimpressed by the fact that he had grown somewhat more handsome over the summer.

"I missed you about as much as one misses a sliver that's just been removed," Lily spat, poisonously.

Jo laughed at Lily's comparison, but Gail wished she had a book to hide behind. Sirius Black had made her feel gross while he was staring at her, but Peter Pettigrew was worse. The rat-like boy was practically teetering off the side of the seat, staring at her face.

Gail ignored Sirius completely, even when he attempted to start a conversation when James had failed. A look of recognition finally floated onto his face as he spoke, "oh, it's Forester. Hey Prongs, look."

James' eyes left Lily for the first time since he had been in the area. His eyes slide to Gail's face, and slowly drifted down to examine her body. She felt like she was on display in a zoo. Thank goodness Lily and Jo were there with her, and were able to distract the boys somewhat.

Jo snickered, amused at the dropped jaws that Gail was receiving, "put your tongues back in, boys. You're making Gail uncomfortable."

"The scars I gave her aren't even visible anymore," Sirius fumed to Peter, "her skin is too dark."

Gail frowned at back at him for a moment, not saying a word. Instead of making a comment back, she turned her attention to the window. Even in the pouring rain, she could make out the lush scenery that the train drifted through.

"How was your summer?" Peter stuttered suddenly, calling her attention back into the compartment, "I heard you were working for the ministry. My dad was impressed that a fourteen year old could hold the position."

"Busy," Gail responded, a little frustrated at answering the same question again. She wasn't going to explain to Peter that she had the best summer of her life moving animal dung. It wasn't the excrement that she enjoyed, though. She found that she loved working near the magical creatures. The overseer of the nursery had invited her to come back the next year, when she would be knowledgeable enough to feed and care for the creatures.

"As lovely as this reunion has been," Sirius muttered, pulling Peter up by the elbow, "we have things to do. Coming Prongs?"

James grunted, finally taking his eyes off of Lily and Gail long enough to exit the compartment. There was a long silence after they left, in which Lily and Jo were staring at one another with a grin on their face. The silence was broken by a loud explosion in the corridor. Several girls in the compartment next door shrieked. It seemed like the whole train exploded in sound. Lily jumped to her feet and opened the door.

A second later, she slapped it closed. Turning around, she wrinkled her nose and explained, "dungbomb."

* * *

Dumbledore's opening speech was almost exactly the same as the previous year. He made sure to get the point across to students that the forbidden forest was off limits, and that students must be careful near the whomping willow. He deliberately stared at the marauders while warning the students not to wander around at night.

The feast looked wonderful. Delicious smells wafted around the golden platters. Although it was tempting, only brave individuals and the first years grabbed some food. The rest of the students waited until after they saw the marauders heap food onto their own plates. Whispers went up around the hall. There was a huge sense of unease.

"What do you think they're planning?" Jo whispered loudly to Lily, placing a roll on her plate, "I mean, they have pranked someone every feast since our first year. It's a tradition."

Lily shrugged and spoke out loud, "I can't read minds. I would prefer not to know about it, anyway. They never do anything original or funny."

"Who says we're not funny?" James shouted from where he was sitting, pulling himself up so that he was half-standing, half-sitting. He tossed a glare towards where Lily was sitting. The students sitting around him were mostly younger than he was, and were oogling him like he was some kind of rock star.

Gail lifted her head up. She had been stuffing her face quickly in hopes of getting out of the Great Hall before there was any commotion. After hearing the "fighting words" of James Potter, though, she knew something would start. Gail looked rather like a chipmunk with food stored in her cheeks. She waited for the remark that would set the Lily onto the path of destruction.

"Oh, it was Evans!" Sirius grinned, pointing over at the redhead, "but you know she doesn't have a sense of humour, anyway."

"Yeah, sourpuss Evans never smiles!" Peter added, staring at James in the same manner as the younger students. He seemed to fit in with the younger teenagers quite well. This was probably because of his height.

Lily stood up, glaring down her nose at the boys. She was red in the face and was shaking in anger. Her nostrils flared slightly as she picked up a roll. She threw the bread as hard as she could at Griffindor's "star chaser". The roll hit Mr. Potter in the face so that his glasses went flying. Only slightly amused with her own accuracy, Lily stormed out of the hall.

Swallowing the remainder of the food in her mouth, Gail got up and rushed after Lily. The redhead was not easy to catch up to. Halfway to the Griffindor tower, Lily stopped and turned around. Her face was completely red, and there were some tears on her face.

"I do have a sense of humour!" Lily declared, facing Gail and looking her in the eye.

"And a good arm," Gail added, her dark brown eyes unflinching, "I bet that shocked him."

Lily snorted indignantly, "no, in the middle of our first year, I threw a goblet at his head. If he didn't duck, he would have had a broken nose or black eye. No, I'm sure that roll didn't surprise him."

Gail looked around, noting that they were the first to leave the hall after the feast. The prefects were still in there, so the two girls didn't have any idea of what the Fat Lady's password was. A cry eventually echoed from behind them as Jo came running up.

"Sorry I took so long. The marauders decided to pull something after Lily left," Jo panted, "I almost didn't get out of there."

"What did they do this time?" Lily asked sharply, her almond-shaped eyes flashing dangerously.

"Well, it looks like they charmed the benches and tables to float around the room after enough food had been eaten," Jo explained with a grimace, "some students enjoyed it, but some of the first years started crying. I'm sure one wet himself."

"Let's go for a walk on the grounds," Gail suggested before Lily could decide to storm back to the Great Hall and give the boys a beating. At Lily's consent, the girls wandered around for a few hours.

Jo and Gail forced their friend to think about other things for an hour. Surprisingly, Lily's mood improved vastly. She had even started talking about her sister when they finally made their way up to the Griffindor Tower.

"My sister, Tuney, started dating this oaf of a man," Lily complained, "he looks like a giant ape. I don't know what Tuney sees in him."

"I bet they love each other," Gail smiled peacefully, "I would be more worried if he looked like, oh I don't know, Sirius Black."

Jo looked shocked, "that is a horrific thought. The world can hardly manage with one Black, let alone two."

Lily snorted in an unladylike fashion, "no, Vernon Dursley is most likely not a player like Black."

* * *

The next morning, Gail's eyes snapped open. Asleep on the pillow next to her head was her silver and black tabby, Mati. The cat didn't even open his eyes when Gail sat up. Searching around for her hair brush, Gail untied her hair.

With hairbrush in her hand, Gail trudged into the bathroom. She roughly brushed her tawny hair and paused for a moment to look in the mirror. Her hair had a huge crimp in it from being tied up for so long. It usually fell in her face so she had taken to tying it up when she was working. Now it was somewhat of a habit. Pulling her hair back in one hand, she looked at her face. There was a small mark next to her nose. Her face had been darkened from months of working outside. She was thankful that the sunburn on her nose had turned brown in the last few days.

Gail couldn't understand why the others had been staring at her. Lily was still far prettier, not to mention the other Griffindor girls. She finished tying her hair back, while ignoring several stray hairs around her forehead and neck.

She was ready for school before the other girls were even awake, mostly because she didn't see a reason for makeup, perfume, and other things that girls worried about. Gail arrived at the bottom of the stairs at the same time as a certain gentle-eyed marauder. If Gail hadn't paused for a moment, she would have walked straight into him.

Remus didn't even look up from his book as he turned into the common room. He only looked up after Gail cleared her throat. Gail noted that he had grown quite a bit, but was still as pale as ever.

Startled, Remus stared at Gail as she opened her mouth to speak, "you should sit down if you're going to read. You're less likely to run over little people and get hurt that way."

"I'm sorry, Gail," Remus apologized kindly, his eyes not leaving her face. Gail noted that his face turned slightly pink, probably from being scolded.

"Ah, no, you don't need to apologize," Gail felt her stomach pinch awkwardly, she hadn't meant to make Remus feel guilty, "it's just not safe to walk around with your head in a book. You could walk into a wall or something."

Remus opened his mouth to speak, but a voice came from behind Gail instead, "Moony, is she bugging you?"

* * *

**Author Note:**

Thanks for reading chapter 6! I have a few questions for you to answer!  
1. How did you like it? Did you call Gail's "change"?

2. Can you tell who is talking in the last quote?

3. Do you have a deleted scene that they would like to be included in one of the chapters? I usually just do spinoffs of things that have happened/or will not happen in my fic. I'd like to hear some ideas.

On with the _Deleted Scene_! And a new section I'm thinking about adding permanently: _The Comment Gallery_.

-Rue

* * *

Deleted Scene from chapter 4: **Quidditch Woes**

The last game of the season, Griffindor vs. Slytherin, was the biggest event of the year. It was one that Gail would not miss for the world. She stood in the stands with her best friends, whom she had forced to don red and gold clothing and accessories. Shouting at the top of her lungs and waving a flag around, Gail could feel her heart pumping madly.

"Potter just scored ten points for Griffindor!" the announcer yelled, causing the Griffindors to cheer even louder, "now Griffindor is up, 80 to 30. Slytherin will be looking for the snitch to end the game before they can get cream-er... Before Griffindor can get a steady lead with quaffle goals!"

Potter did a back flip on his broom before tossing a wave over towards the spectators. While he was grandstanding, a Slytherin got hold of the quaffle and made for the Griffindor hoops.

"Oh, what a save by Thestile!" The announcer shouted, ignoring the 'boos' from the Slytherins, "has anyone ever noticed how similar her name is to Thestral? Oh, look at those two beaters on the Griffindor team! They're doing a great job keeping the bludgers away from Potter, who has the quaffle..."

One of the professors had apparently stopped the announcer from taking Griffindor's side completely, since there was a long pause between announcements.

"The slimy Slytherins recovered the quaffle and-" the announcer paused, "oh no, it seems that Thestile went to the wrong hoop. Another 10 points for Slytherin. The score is now 80-40 for Griffindor."

"No!" Gail shouted quite loudly, "stupid Potter! Get in the game!"

"Oye!" A voice resonated from behind her, "I don't care how cute you are! YOU DID NOT JUST CALL MY MATE STUPID!"

Gail managed to turn around right as a ball of black hair jumped on her. There wasn't much room to wrestle in the stands, but the two did what they could. Even when Lily and Remus attempted to pull them away from each other, they acted like magnets.

"Your mate is a git!" Gail cried, yanking at Sirius' hair while attempting to kick him, "admit it!"

"Shaddup!" Sirius gritted his teeth, attempting to free his hair with one hand while using the palm of his other hand to push the girl's shoulder down, "you fight like a girl!"

"Oh and there's chaos in the Griffindor bleachers!" The announcer yelled, "it looks like Sirius Black is attempting to punch some girl for calling Potter "stupid"! This is the fight of the century! She actually pulled on his hair! I can't believe this is happening!"

Gail turned her head and leaned forward as far as she could. Her teeth sunk into Sirius' arm, causing him to yelp and retract his arm. She grinned at him, "I am a girl, you moron."

"The girl, it looks like it's Gail Forester, has taken a chunk out of Black's arm!" The announcer yelled, "it looks like the professors have finally pulled them apart!"

Professor Slughorn and Professor Kettleburn were the first two to arrive in the bleachers, and had successfully separated the brawlers. Slughorn looked very ashamed, and made tsking noises whenever he looked at the two.

"I would have thought better of you," Kettleburn scolded Gail, "you should at least have given him a black eye."

* * *

**The Comment Gallery**_  
Hosted by: Gail Forester  
Special Guest: James Potter_

Gail: Uh... Hello? Welcome to the first ever "Comment Gallery". I'm Gail Forester, the main character of this story.

James: No way. You can't be the main character, you're an OC.

Gail: Huhu~ That's what you'd like to think, wouldn't you! Haven't you noticed that your views have been ignored? The author hasn't even given explanations as to why you and Sirius act so bad.

James: What's wrong with a bit of mischief? It never hurt anyone!

Gail: Obviously, I don't count. By the way, what other pranks do you pull? I bet the readers would like to know.

James: It would take hours. There isn't a day that goes by that we don't prank someone. Our pranks generally fall into three levels: Harmless fun, Hazardous hexing, and Slytherins.

Gail: Why doesn't the third level match the other two?

James: That's simple. Slytherins get the worst end of our pranks. Specifically, we tend to target Snivellus. I'd rather not talk about it, though, the rest of the information regarding the third level is top secret. That stuff could get us expelled.

Gail: I see. So let's respond to some reviews.

James: We've gotten quite a few, Gail.

Gail: Yes, I saw. Our first one comes from _Angel of Apathy_. Thank you for reviewing twice, Angel. I hope you like how this chapter turned out.

James: Why wasn't I mentioned in your review?

Gail: Seriously, Potter, the world doesn't revolve around you. It would be weird if she did, that would mean that we could be a pair.

James: Yuck.

Gail: Yep. Angel said that I would be good with Remus. I would like to agree, because I still haven't forgiven Black for giving me boils... AND for staring at my chest.

James: You have a lovely chest, that's why he was staring.

Gail: . . .

James: Oh come on! I was kidding. You know that I'm destined for Evans. Everyone knows that I'm destined for her.

Gail: Unless the author decides to go finish this story in an AU way and screw up your life.

-James looks horror struck-

Gail: Our other, frequent reviewer and friend, _Collylocks_ commented that she enjoyed the author's Deleted Scenes.

James: Only because you keep messing up Moony's name. Really, how hard is it.

-Gail shrugs-

Gail: If only we could really get Sirius and Rebus to mud wrestle.

-James shakes his head and shudders-

Gail: Anyway, our other review comes from _HigurashiRei_. Thank you for the encouragement!

James: People like that keep us in business! Siriusly.

Gail: That's all the time we have for today! For the love of all that is good, review so that I can keep my job!


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"Moony, is she bugging you?"

Gail quickly turned her head, and instantly regretted it. She felt a muscle in her neck snap, and begin stinging. Her eyes watered a little bit, and she could almost feel her head tilting to to side. She used one hand to massage the side of her neck in hopes of relieving the knot that would form there. Sirius Black was staring at her curiously, the hint of a smirk on his face. She could almost hear him taunting her in her mind.

"No, Padfoot," Remus responded, "she was just telling me to be more careful when I walk around."

Sirius frowned, his disbelieving gaze shifting back and forth between Remus and Gail. How low Sirius must have thought of her. Gail allowed her dark brown eyes to trail back to Remus, who was staring at Sirius. Neither boy made no attempt to speak with Gail. For a moment, she felt like she was twelve years old again, back to being ignored by almost everyone.

"Be civil, Sirius," Remus finally asked, "Gail hasn't done anything to warrant your anger."

"She's a snitch," Sirius complained, ignoring Remus' protesting groan, "she told Evans about our plans."

"In all fairness," Gail spoke calmly to the handsome boy leaning against one of the couches, "you got me back for that tenfold. Are you going to continue being paranoid about that forever, or are you going to realize that I couldn't care less about your pranks?"

"Paranoid?" Sirius raised his voice slightly, staring down his nose at the girl.

"That's enough, Padfoot. Let's just go eat some breakfast," Remus snapped, rubbing a slender finger across his pale forehead. He looked rather unwell all of a sudden.

Worry lined Sirius' expression. He dropped his angry tone, "sorry Moony. I didn't realize how sick you felt."

Remus merely nodded, glancing over his shoulder at Gail, "you're welcome to come eat breakfast with us, Gail, as long as you don't tell anyone what we eat."

"Oh, you know I have to tell Lily what you're eating for breakfast, and the exact times that you eat," Gail commented dryly, rolling her eyes, "but she'll be mad that my information doesn't include Potter and Pettigrew."

"They won't be up for a while yet," Remus commented, leading the way through the portal and towards the Great Hall.

* * *

"Double Care of Magical Creatures, first thing in the morning," Jo complained, yawning. It was apparent that quite a few students had elected to drop the subject completely after their third year. The three blondes, Amber, Avalon and Melanie, thought that the class was far too hard. Gail figured that Peter had probably failed the class completely.

Thus, the only Griffindors taking the class in their fourth year were Gail, Lily, Jo, Remus, Sirius and James. There were students from all four houses in the class, mostly because of failing marks in the third year or because of the level of difficulty.

"I see that there are quite a few of you who decided to continue taking this class," Kettleburn frowned, "only seventeen of you are brave enough to continue in this class, possibly the most dangerous class at Hogwarts. But you bunch don't have to worry, right? I weeded out those that would have been hurt in the harder classes."

Limping towards the class, Kettleburn welcomed the seventeen students, three from Slytherin, two from Ravenclaw, six from Hufflepuff and nine from Griffindor, "we covered the basics last year, and only the best of the class have managed to return. This year, things will be more difficult and you _will_ be prepared for your O.W.L.s at the end of next year."

Kettleburn let out a sharp whistle before continuing, "let's start with something interesting."

A majority of the students looked worried, having heard that Kettleburn had a strange idea of what could be considered "fun". The worried looks only increased when a large, silver plumed hippogriff landed two feet away from their professor. Lily gasped a little bit beside Gail, shocked at the sight of such a huge creature. Most of the students took several paces away from the creature.

"Class, allow me to introduce you to Ellflee," Kettleburn's excited smile bore into his students, "now who would like to come say hello?"

No one stepped forward, not even Gail. She was too focused on admiring Ellflee's golden eyes and wonderful, soft feathers that she hadn't been paying attention.

"Then we'll have James Potter come up," Kettleburn pointed at the boy, "let's see if you can fly on a creature you can't control."

James gulped, plastering a nervous smile on his face. He attempted to walk over to the hippogriff, until Kettleburn barked at him that he was wrong.

"That's enough, Mr. Potter," Kettleburn growled, "go stand next to your friend. Hopefully, you'll be able to learn something. Miss Forester, if you would?"

Gail nodded, hoping that what she read in the textbook in the previous year was still correct. Her heart started beating furiously while she took a few, slow steps towards Ellflee. Once she made eye contact with the creature, she stopped. Gail half-bowed, half-curtsied to the creature.

Ellflee tilted its head to the side, and continued to stare at Gail for a moment as if deciding whether or not to accept the girl. Gail held her breath, waiting. After what seemed like an hour to her, Ellflee bowed back. Both straightened, and Gail marched forward again. Once she had reached the hippogriff, she stopped and extended her hand. Within minutes, Gail was allowed to run her fingers through the beautiful feathers.

"And that, Mr. Potter, is how you successfully approach a hippogriff," Kettleburn grumbled, but Gail could tell that he was likely quite proud of what she had done without any help.

"All right, Miss Forester," Kettleburn nodded, "they've seen how you did it. Now you can help the others to do the same. Help Potter try it again."

"Yes sir," Gail turned to James, possibly more nervous than she had been while doing it herself, "walk forward, Potter."

James, still quite rattled from the last time and attempting to hide it, plastered on his nervous smile again and took a few steps forward.

"Stop walking when you make eye contact. Stop now," Gail instructed, "bow while keeping eye contact."

James bowed woodenly. Gail noted his knees trembling. Ellflee bowed back, "you're doing fine, Potter. Now you can come forward and offer your hand."

Shuffling forward, James held out his hand and Ellflee allowed him to pat her silvery head. The hippogriff eventually lowered herself to the ground.

"Looks like Potter will get to ride after all. The rest of you can take a small break. You will be required to do the same thing when you come back," Kettleburn commanded, motioning for James to mount Ellflee like he would mount a broom. When the two were in the air, Kettleburn clapped Gail on the back with his good hand, "well done."

* * *

If double Transfiguration wasn't bad enough, they had it all afternoon with Slytherin. The relationship between the two groups of teenagers had become even more strained, since a majority of the worst pranks were being done on the fourth year Slytherins.

Gail heard several Slytherins, including Bellatrix Black, whispering about mudbloods. She was glad that McGonagall would not allow such behaviour in her class. The whispers promptly stopped upon their professor's entrance. With a swish of her wand, all of the students' textbooks flew open the the correct page.

Gail sat on Lily's side, closer to some of the most foul individuals in the school than she would have liked to sit near. Behind them, the marauders sat trying to look as innocent as possible. Normally, they wouldn't pull anything under McGonagall's nose, but with their choice group of prankees in the room, Gail assumed they wouldn't even try to resist.

"You will be practising turning matches into needles," McGonagall commanded those in the room to heed her, "in order to recall what you learned last year. Now begin." With that, McGonagall flicked her wand, making a match appear before each student.

Lily easily turned the match into a needle, earning ten points for Griffindor for having an excellent memory.

It didn't take the marauders long to enact their pranks. Gail couldn't even keep track of the pranks after the mayhem started. It started with Severus Snape; he started growing what appeared to be cat ears and a tail. Bellatrix Black was a close second; her hair turned a startling shade of red and had a picture of a gold lion imprinted on the back.

Gail had to fight to keep herself from laughing at Bellatrix's "Griffindor pride" hair that looked miraculously like a wig. Several glares were launched her way before other problems started appearing in the classroom.

"Close you mouth, mudblood," Bellatrix snapped at her when McGonagall was on the other side of the class, "or I'll close it for you."

When McGonagall saw what had occurred in her classroom, she looked slightly flustered as several Slytherins had different symptoms. She easily fixed the problems before turning on the marauders. Frowning, she spoke icily, "fifty points from Griffindor. I would have thought you would have matured over the summer. As the head of your house, I am severely disappointed that I will have to administer the first detentions of your fourth year."

She paused for a second, "because of Mr. Potter and his friends, the rest of you will write a ten thousand words essay due next week on the theory behind transfiguration."

"Prongs, do something," Sirius whispered rather loudly to his friend, "your night time lover is giving us homework."

James grinned, wiggling his eyebrows, "stand back, boys, I will work my manly charm on her."

McGonagall didn't take to kindly to James' attempt at being funny. She stared icily at him through her glasses, "make that two detentions, Mr. Potter. If you keep it up, you might find yourself with a record amount of detentions from one sitting."

That silenced James quickly. Gail had always admired McGonagall as somewhat of a role model; she was the kind of strong-willed person that Gail wished she could be. Gail would probably never tie her hair up in the same manner, nor would she wear an out-dated night gown, but other aspects of the woman were admirable. Acting as the mother figure for most of the students at Hogwarts, she was strict, but she never punished a student for something that she knew was right. Yes, Minerva McGonagall was an admirable, older woman.

* * *

Gail was walking down a hallway two days after the Transfiguration fiasco. She wasn't really paying attention to where she was heading, other than she was moving in the general direction of the Astronomy tower. She had just had a short conversation with Myrtle, who was as depressing as always.

"Fat Forester! fat Forester!" A voice sung from down the hall before Peeves floated into view. He looked like an angry, round little man wearing a belled hat. He continued to tease her, "fatty fat Forester!"

Gail glared at the poltergeist before responding, "do you have a point, Peeves?"

"F.a.t. F-o-r-e-s-t-e-r~," Peeves grinned wickedly, tossing unknown, small objects at her while whizzing around her head.

Raising an eyebrow, she calmly watched and waited for him to finish. When he saw that he got no rise out of her, he hovered in front of her face and blew a loud raspberry. He then flew off down the hall.

"They say I've changed," Gail sighed, "but I'm starting to think that Peeves is correct. I'm still the same person I was last year."

It took a long time to pick all of the bits of parchment, paper, chalk, and other small items out of her tawny hair. It took her longer because she was still wandering toward the Astronomy tower. She found that she had to untie her hair to make sure the small pieces were out.

"Is everything all right, Gail?" A soft voice asked from behind her. She had reached the staircase to the tower, and she wasn't even paying attention. Gail swung around, finding that Remus had also arrived early.

"Yeah, met with Peeves on the way here," Gail sighed, attempting to straighten her hair out, "who knows what he threw at me."

"Ah," Remus smiled weakly, "it looks like you got it out of your hair just fine."

Gail nodded solemnly, attempting to pull her mass of hair back again, "but I won't be able to tie it up nicely without a hairbrush."

Remus opened his mouth but hesitated for a moment. Gail tied her hair up hap-hazardly, not noticing that the marauder had a hand outstretched. He quickly dropped the hand back to his side.

"That should do," Gail muttered before turning her dark gaze back to Remus, "you're looking a lot better today."

"Yes," Remus shifted slightly. Gail didn't miss the slight quake of the corner of his mouth, "I've always recovered quickly after being sick."

"Oh," Gail tilted her head to the side, "do you get sick often?"

Remus hesitated again before nodding, "it runs in my family. My mother gets ill quite often, sometimes it's bad enough that my father needs my help back home for a few days. Luckily, Dumbledore has provided a way for me to head back home for a few days."

Gail chewed her lip for a moment, "I'm sorry, that was an horrendously personal question."

Remus smiled gently, "don't worry about it, Gail. That's how we make friends. I know, you can tell me a bit about your parents. What are they like?"

"I live with my dad," Gail nodded, responding in short, "my mother died a long time ago. I don't even remember her."

"Oh," Remus looked a little stunned, "it looks like I hit a 'horrendously personal' question, too. Sorry."

"It's fine," Gail responded with a quirky smile, "just change the topic."

"Uh, so about that wea-" Remus started amicably.

"A topic other than the weather. Rain isn't all that interesting," Gail cut him off before he could mention it. Both laughed as they started up the daunting staircase to the Astronomy classroom.

* * *

**Author Note:**  
Hey you! Thanks for reading chapter 7! I've been working on this story for a week, now. I found this chapter hard to complete, but I do so enjoy the Comment Gallery. :)

Now on to your _Deleted Scene_ and _Comment Gallery_!  
-Rue

* * *

Deleted Scene: **Swimsuit Competition**

It was hot at Hogwarts. More than hot. It was boiling. There was almost no way for the students to cool down under the summer sun. That was, until some of the fourth year girls decided to go swimming. And to go swimming, they needed swimsuits. There was no way that a person, like Lily Evans, would swim in her knickers.

So the girls were sitting around Lily, with her Transfiguration book open, in their dormitory. It took the redhead a few tries to perfect changing her clothes into a swimsuit. She easily transfigured the other girls clothes too.

"Let's go," she hurried the girls along, grabbing a few towels as she went, "let's go join the giant squid."

By the time that they reached the lake, the girls had received several catcalls and fox whistles. Luckily, none of the professors were present to tell the girls to change back into their school robes. Gail noted the stares in Lily's direction from several boys, including James Potter and Severus Snape.

Lily left the towels near the shore before running into the water up to her thighs. Happily, the three blondes followed her. Jo waded into the deeper water before pushing off and slowly practising swimming laps near the other girls.

Gail, a little more timid than the others about entering the water, walked in slowly. She was far more tanned than the others, and stuck out like a sore thumb.

"Take this!" Lily cried, flicking water at her in an attempt to get her moving faster.

"Ack!" Gail cried out, "not fair, Lily! I wasn't ready!"

The girls played in the water, unaware of the attention they had drawn to themselves.

"What do you think, Moony?" Sirius asked, watching the girls fling water at each other.

"What do I think about what?" Remus responded, his gaze stopped on the same word in his book. He didn't dare look up. He knew something bad would happen.

James piped up, "look at Evans! I have never seen a nicer pair of legs."

Sirius clenched his teeth to prevent himself from making a comment about James' choice of girls. His eyes were focused on a different girl. Her tawny hair was shining in the sun, her bronze skin shone with water droplets.

Remus finally looked up, "oh, are we judging the girls now?"

The boys sat on the grass in a line with a piece of parchment on each of their laps. A voice announced the first contestant

"Our first contestant is Amber Button. Gentlemen, please show how high you would score her!"

Each boy held up his parchment with a score;  
James: 3  
Sirius: 6  
Remus: 5  
Peter: 9

"Oh, Amber Button's final score is 5.75. Not bad! Next is Avalon Clack."

Again, each boy held up his parchment with a score;  
James: 2  
Sirius: 3  
Remus: 8  
Peter: 9

"Avalon Clack's score is 5.5. Good try! Next is Lily Evans."  
James: 10  
Sirius: 8  
Remus: 9  
Peter: 9

"It appears that we may have a winner! Lily Evan's final score is 9. Wow! The only one that can hope to win against her is Abigail Forester. Boys?"

The boys seemed to ponder the scores for a moment before showing them;  
James: 8  
Sirius: 10  
Remus: 10  
Peter: 9

"What a close game!" the announcer shouted, "Gail has taken the lead with a 9.25."

The girls had heard everything. Emerging from the water with their wands [magically] in hand, their all glared at the boys.

"James Potter!" Amber sobbed, "how can you give me a 3? I'm more than decent to look at."

James wouldn't make eye contact. He looked away and mumbled something about red hair. Lily forced him to make eye contact when she grabbed the front of his shirt. She ignored the small amount of blood that flowed out of his nose.

Lily rolled her eyes, "I think it's time we judged these boys the same way."

Lily easily transfigured the boys' robes into swimsuits, "sorry, I only know how to do swimsuits for girls, though."

James' face lit up like a tomato, "Evans! Give me back my robes! HEY!"

"Nice legs, Potter," Jo smiled as she wrung her wet hair out, "best ones I've ever seen."

* * *

**The Comment Gallery**  
_Hosted by: Gail Forester  
Special Guest: Sirius Black_

Gail: Hello again and welcome to the second _Comment Gallery_! I'm Gail Forester, the main character of the story! Joining me today is everyone's favourite pretty boy, Sirius Black.

Sirius: I'm not everyone's favourite pretty boy. I'm everyone's favourite, period.

Gail: That's the Sirius Black that we know and love...

-Sirius leans his chair back on two legs-

Sirius: I'm bored.

Gail: Then let's start off with a question to Sirius; do you have a particular girlfriend? Do you have a crush on anyone?

Sirius: Do you want me to answer that?_ Seriously_?

Gail: Yes, I'm sure the readers would like to know.

Sirius: I only pay attention to girls when it suits me. One year, I got a howler from my mom for "dating" a muggleborn witch.

Gail: Your mom sounds like a wonderful person.

Sirius: Ha. You don't know the half of it.

Gail: I think we hit a sore subject. Well, Sirius, let's read some reviews. The first one comes from _Collylocks_! Thanks for reviewing again. _I really didn't change that much, though._

Sirius: You did too. You have breasts now, and you look like a potatoe.

-Gail glares at Sirius momentarily-

Gail: The author thought of writing about the feast for a deleted scene, but the truth is that she couldn't think of any jokes or pranks for the marauders that haven't been done before.

Sirius: Why is Remus cute? You should be worshiping me, I am haughty and attractive.

Gail: Shove it, Black. Now our next reviewer is _Angel of Apathy_! Thank you for reviewing again! We're still in business because of your reviews.

Sirius: The author wanted to write a Cinderella story. Girls like that kind of thing, right?

Gail: _Hsst_, Black! I am NOT a Cinderella character. Do you see me running off to some ball in a white dress to dance with a prince? **NO**.

Sirius: That could be easily arranged.

-Sirius cooly winks at Gail and runs a hand through his perfect hair-

-Gail laughs nervously-

Gail: N-no. I'm not a Cinderella character.

Sirius: Of course you aren't. You have the personality of a robot. Cinderella needs to be sweet, loving, hot and have a decent singing voice.

Gail: Black! That's enough.

-Gail clears her throat-

Gail: That's all the time we have today, thank goodness. Send us some reviews to-

Sirius: Send some reviews to the author telling her that I should take over this section. I would make a _way_ better host.

-Gail ignores him-

Gail: See you next time.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Gail had been awake since four am, and not because she wanted to be. Normally, she would wake up early, another habit from working all summer, but she would not normally wake up _this_ early. Not by choice, anyway. Amber Button was the cause. All of the other Griffindor girls had fallen back asleep, except for Gail. Therefore, Amber had spent hours going over the details about how she was going to ask Sirius to accompany her to Hogsmeade.

She never asked if Gail was even interested. In fact, Gail couldn't have been less interested if she tried. Groggily, she just nodded her head whenever Amber asked her a question or paused between verbal ramblings.

"Which hairstyle looks better on me, Gail?" Amber asked focusing while demonstrating with her hair, "tied up in a bun, or should I curl it and wear a headband?"

"Does it really matter?" Gail grumbled, her eyes half closed.

"Yes!" Amber smacked Gail over the head lightly, "if I don't look nice when I ask him, he won't say yes."

"Then wear your hair down," Gail mumbled, "or you'll look like McGonagall."

"You're right, Gail," Amber smiled brightly, pulling out her wand out, "now if you'll excuse me, I'll be in the bathroom, curling my hair."

Gail was half asleep when Amber came out from the bathroom with a full head of perfectly shaped, blonde curls. She poked Gail until her eyes were fully opened.

"Headband?" Amber asked, "what colour? Red? Purple? Blue?"

Gail groaned, frowning at the girl for a moment. She answered without really caring, "red."

"You're right, Gail," Amber quickly placed her red headband in her hair, "the red one matches my Griffindor tie."

"Mmm," Gail agreed, one of her eyes drooping closed.

"What about makeup?" Amber asked, "does it look good? Is my lipstick the right colour?"

"Looks fine, Amber," Gail nodded, "now can I go back to bed?"

"Gail!" Amber looked astonished, "you know I need someone to come with me when I ask him out!"

"Why don't you get Melanie or Avalon to go with you?" Gail grumbled, throwing her legs over the side of the bed. She knew that she wouldn't be going back to bed anytime soon.

"They won't wake up!" Amber complained, putting on her cutest pout, "please Gail? Pretty please?"

Gail frowned and finally nodded, "give me a moment to get dressed, and we can go."

Seeing Amber's agreeable nod, Gail trudged to the bathroom. Half asleep, she pulled a hairbrush through a giant knot in her hair. Muttering to herself, Gail pulled her school robes. The shocking difference between the girls was obvious. Amber had taken closer to three hours, whereas it took Gail five minutes.

Amber was sitting on the end of her bed, patiently waiting for Gail. When she emerged from the bedroom, Amber jumped to her feet. Gail felt her stomach churn when she saw the excited look on Amber's face. Luckily, Amber took no notice of the disgusted look on her face.

The two girls walked to the Great Hall in silence. By the time the two girls arrived in the hall, there were many students having breakfast. The marauders were sitting at the table, at least two of them looked half-asleep. Sirius was wide awake, though. His head swivelled when Amber and Gail entered.

Amber stopped abruptly, grabbing Gail's sleeve. Quietly, she mumbled, "I can't do it here."

"What?" Gail snapped, turning to the blonde. Amber looked like she was ready to cry because of her nerves. Amber started shaking her head. She really looked like she was about to puke, "ask him... Can you ask him to meet me outside?"

Gail looked like Amber had slapped her. Did the blonde seriously just ask her to walk up to Black and ask him to... People would think she was asking him out, or something equally heinous!

"Please, Gail..." Amber pleaded her, "please?"

"Fine," Gail agreed, "go wait in the hall, I'll tell him to meet you out there."

With that, Gail walked forward. She hoped that she wasn't shaking too much. Facing down Sirius Black was enough to make her want to turn and follow the blonde out of the hall. Too bad for her, though, she had already consented to Amber's request.

She slid herself onto the bench next to Sirius, causing him to turn and stare at her like she had two heads, "mornin' Black. Someone wants to meet you outside. You should go talk to her."

Sirius spluttered, mouth hanging open, "you aren't going to ask me out?"

"Not me," Gail said shortly, "I would rather date a wet rag, no offence."

"None taken," Sirius said buoyantly, "I would rather date a _cockroach_."

"Mmm..." James mumbled, half a piece of toast hanging from his mouth, "whash Willy doing here?"

"Wake up, Prongs," Peter snickered, "that's not Evans, that's Forester."

"Oh..." James stared at her for a second before turning his attention back to his breakfast.

Sirius stood up, "see you later, mates."

Gail shovelled some eggs onto her plate. She also grabbed a few pancakes. Tucking in, she noted that Remus was asleep with his head resting on the table. Gail grinned and stole some of the bacon off of his plate.

* * *

Later in the day, Amber was jumping around the dormitories, proclaiming her everlasting love of Sirius Black, to whom she would eventually get married to, and have several kids. It went on and on. Gail sat through it patiently, waiting for Lily and Jo to get back. She was only half listening. Apparently, Sirius had accepted Amber's invitation.

Lily entered the room, and Gail had never been more happy to see a person before in her life. That was, until the redhead opened her mouth to speak.

"Gail, since it's the first hogsmeade weekend this year, you're going to come with Jo and I, right?" Lily asked, a playful smile on her lovely, well-rested face.

"Why not, you can't possibly make today any worse," Gail agreed sullenly.

"See you around, Amber," Jo congratulated the blonde, "have fun at your date."

Gail allowed Lily to drag her along towards the gate to Hogsmeade without question. She didn't bother until they stopped in front of 'Belladonna's Beauty.'

"What are we doing here, Lily?" Gail questioned the redhead suspiciously.

"You need a haircut," Jo smiled passively, leading Gail into the shop before she could complain.

A plump witch stood behind a bright, pink reception desk at the entrance. The witch had her hair curled elegantly around her head. She seemed full of health, her radiance made her lovely. Everything else in the entrance appeared dull compared to the exuberant witch. Gail marvelled at how a positive person could appear more attractive simply by using their own confidence.

"Good afternoon!" The jovial witch greeted the three girls, "what can I interest you three witches in today?"

"Oh, she needs a haircut," Lily responded, pushing Gail forward, "take care of her hair, okay?"

"Follow me please," the witched walked out from behind the pink reception desk. Gail noted the woman was wearing an extravagant pair of red high heeled shoes. After encouragement from the two girls, Gail followed the witch down a long hallway that seemed to narrow at the end.

"Take a seat in this room," the witch smiled at Gail, "feel free to look through the pamphlets."

Gail nodded, stepping into the room. She noted that it was brightly lit, somewhat like a spa. The room was furnished with various plants, she even saw one Flitterbloom waggling its tentacles in response to her presence. The mellow tan-coloured walls were covered in hangings and tapestries. The floor appeared to be white marble and was covered with luxurious rugs.

Gail stumbled toward the only chair in the room. It had silver velvet cushions. She sunk into the chair and immediately felt relaxed.

"Wonderful!" A voice came from one of the side doors, "where have you been all of my life! Look at your hair colour! Magnificent! You are like a lioness!"

Gail turned to regard the man. He was wearing the strangest, dark purple robes. He had a tidy, blonde beard and matching hair. His hair style would have been very popular for ordinary muggles. Overall, he was quite a charming looking fellow, if a tad humorous to look at.

"Let me untie your hair," the man smiled, "and I'll see what I can do for you today."

The chair moved. Yes, moved. Gail really shouldn't have been surprised, but it was just a strange moment. Muggles had swivelling chairs, but this place... The chair moved the the right height to allow the man to remove the elastic from her hair.

"Oh dear," the man spoke, "you have horrible split ends. How about I do a hair repair charm on your hair and give you a nice cut?"

"Do whatever you want," Gail conceded. If it was anything she didn't like, she could get Lily to fix it later. Hopefully.

"Oh joy!" the man smiled, "just relax, you'll be done in a second."

He was right, he was done quite quickly. He cast the charm to repair Gail's hair, and then the spell to cut the hair. When it was finished, he hovered the chair over towards a giant mirror. Gail inspected herself for a moment. Her hair appeared someone smoother and shorter. She also had bangs for the first time in her lift. It was a little strange to have hair in her face.

"Thank you," Gail mumbled, running a hand over the ends of her hair, "it looks great."

"Ah," she could see the man smiling behind her in the mirror, "you have such a strange and lovely hair colour. Make sure to take care of it, okay?"

"Yes sir," Gail nodded dutifully.

"Ok, now go pay at the reception desk on your way out," the man floated the chair back down to the ground before shooing her through the door.

Gail walked back down the hall, feeling slightly flabbergasted by what had just happened.

"That will be a twenty knuts," the witch at the reception desk smiled at her, "that hairstyle looks wonderful on you, dear."

Gail paid the witch before turning to her friends, "well?"

"You look... wow," Lily assessed her hairstyle, "the next time I get my hair done, I'm going to let magic do it."

Jo gave Gail two thumbs up, "now you don't have to tie your hair out of your face, Gail."

* * *

After the hairstyling fiasco, Gail found herself in a better mood. She was quite happy to be dragged along with her friends. They visited a few other shops, including Zonko's Joke Shop, Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop and Honeydukes.

Gail had rather enjoyed Honeydukes; she was reminded of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. She found herself buying a bunch of different kinds of sweets, including ice mice, chocolate frogs and peppermint toads. There were other kinds of animal-shaped candies, too, but she didn't want to spend all of her money in one place.

She saw that Lily bought a bunch of sugar quills and Jo bought some chocolates that were shaped like quaffles, insisting to others that it was her job to "keep" them. When she was leaving, Gail briefly saw Amber and Sirius in the back of the store, examining the trick candies. Sirius still looking haughty and bored.

"Let's go to the Three Broomsticks," Lily suggested, "we can get some Butterbeers there."

Jo agreed, "I could go for a Gillywater."

Gail stared at the two for a moment, absently wondering what the two items were. She had never tasted either, nor had she been to the Three Broomsticks before. She didn't even realize that she had agreed to go along until Lily pulled on her arm.

"It's this way, Gail," Lily spoke softly, "you'll like it. Madam Rosmerta is a very kind witch."

Upon entering the Three Broomsticks, though, Gail knew she wouldn't like the place. It was cramped with students, and quite dark. It was nice enough for a tavern, she supposed, but it still wasn't a place she'd like to sit in. Lily ordered two Butterbeers and a Gillywater when they were finally able to sit down at a table.

And what a crummy table they got. It wasn't the tavern's fault. A group of Slytherins had the table next to them. Complaints about the air in the tavern were spouted, and glares were exchanged. Luckily, the Slytherins decided they would not stay in an establishment that served "mudbloods." Obviously, that group of students hadn't been paying attention, as Gail had, to who was sitting kitty-corner to them.

James Potter, upon seeing the group leave, got up to go too. His two companions slowly got up to go with him, both seemed rather hesitant. Lily had watched the transaction, and had been biting her lip.

"Don't worry," Jo tried to calm Lily down, "you know that Potter can take that group of Slytherins down by himself. They were only third years."

Lily glared at Jo, "who said I was worried about him?"

"I'll go look," Gail offered, "to make sure that no one gets hexed into pieces."

Seeing Lily and Jo nod, she got up and left. A breath of relief flooded her lungs as she stepped through the door. She hadn't noticed how stuffy and hot the tavern was until she was outside. The slight breeze felt nice on her face. She looked around and didn't see Potter or any Slytherins. There was only the sound laughter coming from inside the pub.

Gail walked for a few steps before sitting on a nice, wooden bench. None of the flowers by the bench were alive anymore, but Gail didn't mind. She spent a few moments imagining what the area near the bench would look like in the summer. That was, until Sirius Black came speed-walking down the cobblestone road. When he caught sight of her, he made a beeline towards her. Instead of stopping to talk in front of her, he jumped behind the bench.

Amber followed his path thirty seconds later, looking quite frantic. She stopped to talk to Gail, "hey Gail, have you seen Sirius? I turned around for a moment in Zonko's and he disappeared. Someone said he headed for the Three Broomsticks."

"Oh," Gail attempted to make her face as calm as she could, "I think I saw him walking towards the Shrieking Shack."

"Thanks, Gail," Amber sighed, and ran off. When she was out of sight, Gail grinned to herself. Revenge was nice once in a while

"You can come out now, Black," Gail said quietly, "she's gone."

Sirius' head peeked out over the top of the bench before he jumped up and brushed his robes off. He looked at her curiously, as if he couldn't believe what had just happened.

"You don't have to look at me like that, Black," Gail smiled bitterly, "I wouldn't want to be on a date with her, either."

"She never shuts up!" Sirius complained, throwing himself on the bench next to her, "she wanted to go to Puddifoot's. Ugh."

"Oh, I feel so horrible for you," Gail remarked sarcastically, "it sounds like your date was absolutely dreadful!"

"You don't know the half of it," Sirius complained sourly, "all she wanted to talk about was my family and how well off they were."

Gail stared at Sirius for a moment before she decided it wasn't her place to talk about his family. She spoke quietly, "she'll be back here in a moment. You should probably head back to Hogwarts."

"Thanks, Forester," Sirius got up to leave, but had a second thought. He swooped down for a moment. Gail flinched, figuring that he was going to smack her or something. Instead, she felt something warm brush against her cheek. Sirius had moved away by the time she had opened her eyes.

"Your hair looks great," Sirius grinned, offering her a charming wink before running back towards Honeydukes.

Gail lifted a hand to touch her cheek, finding that it was extremely hot under her touch. Finding that embarrassing, she got up and dutifully headed back into the tavern. Her two friends had half finished their drinks when she arrived. Both turned their heads and gave her a questioning look.

"I looked for them," Gail admitted hastily, "but it looks like Potter was smart enough not to start something just outside of here."

If either girl noted how red her face was, they didn't comment on it.

* * *

**Author Note:**

Ahem! Thank you for reading chapter 8! What did you think of it? I was so happy to be able to include a sweet little moment in here. I just realized that the hair salon was a little AU, but in my thinking... there would be one for underage witches who can't perform beauty charms yet.

Now, here is your _Deleted Scene_ and _Comment Gallery_.

-Rue

* * *

Deleted Scene: **Back when we were cute...**

It was their first year of schooling. A large group of students were standing outside on the quidditch pitch. Each student had been given a broom to learn how to fly. There was a general air of tenseness around the students. None of them were really sure what to do.

"Hello, and let me welcome you to Hogwarts," a woman called their attention, "as first years, you're meant to learn how to fly on your brooms."

A boy with glasses and messy hair snickered. He was one of the most calm students of the group. His stance told everyone around him that he had been able to fly a broom since early childhood.

"First of all, line up and place your broom on the ground," the instructor commanded, watching the students do so, "now we're going to be practising controlling your broom. All you have to do it tell the broom to jump 'up' into your hands. Understood? Good, now try it."

Gail stared down at her broom, unsure that it would support her weight, even if the wood could fly. Timidly, she spoke to the broom, "up?"

The broom didn't even twitch, much to her disappointment. The boy next to her snickered at her weak attempt. It was the same boy with glasses, he grinned at her before whispering, "you have to be more forceful with these brooms. They're old, and they have hearing problems."

With that, the boy stared down at his broom, "UP!"

The broom flew into his hand, on the first try. The other students around him gasped and applauded. The attractive boy directly beside him snorted and easily did the same. Gail assumed both had been born in wizarding families, and had probably used a broom before.

Gail turned back to her broom, glaring at it as she spoke a little firmer, "up!"

The broom remained motionless, much to Gail's chagrin. She decided to try one more time, "UP."

The broom finally jumped into her hand. Gail only felt happy for a moment, noticing that a majority of the class already had their brooms in their hands.

The instructor, noticing this, called the students to attention again, "everyone mount your brooms. On the count of three, you are to take off and hover off the ground."

This caused some nervous whispers in the group, but the instructor continued, "those of you that are comfortable with flying may do a few laps around the pitch for practice. Now begin."

Gail watched the two boys next to her take off and begin racing around the pitch. It was amazing how fast the boy in glasses could go on such an "old" broom. Another girl that she knew from the dormitories eventually made her way around the pitch, as well, albeit more slowly. Gail quickly straddled the broom, willing the broom into the air. There was nothing for a few seconds, but suddenly, the broom kicked and started hovering. Gail looked down, her feet were mere inches off of the ground.

Sheepishly, Gail smiled. It was one of her very first successes at the school. She could get her broom to hover. She willed the broom to go a little bit higher, and it floated up. She was soon the hovering the highest out of those that chose to hover their brooms. She wasn't quite ready to add forward motion into her prospects, but she was feeling fairly secure on the broom.

The lesson was soon over. Gail felt somewhat sad that she had to land her broom. Her sentiment was echoed by some of the other students. Gail noted that a certain redhead still hadn't been able to make her broom jump into her hand, no matter how much she yelled at it. Gail felt a twinge of pity, but it was understandable that not everyone was meant to fly.

* * *

**The Comment Gallery**

_Host: Gail Forester_

_Special Guest: Lily Evans and Severus Snape._

Gail: Welcome to the third Comment Gallery! I'm Gail Forester, the main character of the story. Joining me today is the one and only Lily Evans. Whoa, hold on a moment, what's Snape doing here, Lily?

Snape: I came to talk to you, as well.

Lily: Don't mind him! I don't get to spend enough time with him, because he's always hanging out with those _other_ people.

-Snape groans-

Gail: Well, welcome both of you, I guess. It's strange to be talking with Snape.

Snape: Haven't you noticed the distinct lack of my presence in this story?

Gail: It's because we've never talked to each other before. Why would the author include you when I was practically invisible for my first three years of school?

Lily: Ahem. Well, I think the author should include some moments with Sev. I want to spend more time with him. He's my best friend, you know.

Snape: _Friends_. Oh joy.

Lily: Read the first comment, Gail.

Gail: Our first comment from _Angel of Apathy_ is about Sirius Black.

Snape: I would like to agree that Sirius is not good enough to host a tea party for stuffed animals, let alone this section.

-Lily laughs-

Lily: Did you see when Potter was here? He said he was destined for me. BLECK.

Snape: I can't agree with him less. You're much better suited to someone who's tall, dark and handsome.

Gail: You couldn't mean Amos Diggory, by any chance? I heard he had a girlfriend.

-Lily shifts nervously, smiling at Severus-

Lily: Ahem, well... The author would like to state that this chapter took considerably less time and effort to create. I was a genius in it though, wasn't I? Haha! Just kidding, I'm not like Potter.

-Gail rolls her eyes-

Gail: One of our other reviews come from _Collylocks_, again! I quite enjoyed the lesson on hippogriffs! I know the author thought that Buckbeak was beautiful in the third movie. She included the lesson because, at some point, Professor Kettleburn would have taught the same lesson to Hagrid.

Lily: That hippogriff was scary. I was so surprised that it let Potter ride...

Snape: That course is nonsensical. Who in their right minds would ride such a creature when they could ride a broomstick easier? Why would anyone want to care for those creatures?

Gail: Jealous, Snape? Or are you mad that you failed that class?

Snape: I didn't fail, I just don't approve of... ahem. Onto the next review.

Lily: Thank you for reviewing, _anonymous_ _lol_ and _NatsumiChan_. The author writes a chapter a day because she doesn't have anything else to do. So while you're reading this, she will be editing chapter 9 and writing chapter 10.

Gail: That's all the time we have! Thank you for reviewing.

Lily: Vote for more Severus in the story!

Snape: Please don't. I would rather stay out and not be the target of marauder pranks.


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: This chapter may not be appropriate for younger readers. I've bumped the rating up, just in case._

**Chapter 9**

"How could you, Gail?" Amber shrieked at her when she got back to the dormitories. The blonde had obviously cried, evident from her red, swollen eyes. Instead of explaining what she was upset about, she stormed into the bathroom.

Amber's two best friends entered the room after her, giving apologetic looks to the other three. Avalon spoke quietly, "she's upset about her date with Sirius. It didn't work out between them."

Lily sighed, "what was she expecting, rainbows and lollies?"

Melanie pouted, a dazed expression on the girl's face, "why would she?"

Jo shook her head, and walked towards the bathroom, "I'll go talk to her..."

When Jo opened the bathroom door, the room filled with the sound of feminine sobs. Jo closed the bathroom door after her. Gail didn't hear anything after that. She could only wonder why the blonde was upset with her. She hadn't done anything to her except hide Sirius Black, and Amber didn't know about that.

Mati darted out from under one of the blonde's beds, carrying a mouse in her mouth. The silver and black cat had been prowling the room for several days to catch the mouse. In victory, Mati strode around the room, his tail high.

"Why don't we head to dinner," Lily suggested, watching the cat out of the corner of her eye, "it might take a while for Amber to get over her feelings."

The four girls walked to the Great Hall in more silence than there had been in a year. No one ventured to say anything for fear of stepping on some toes. Lily guided the other girls to a bench in the middle of the Griffindor table. They ate in silence. Gail easily devoured a large piece of ham and a bunch of potatoes and carrots by the time Jo and Amber entered the hall. Gail noted that the blonde sat as far from Gail as she could get, on the other side of their friends. Amber would neither look at her nor make conversation with any of the other girls.

Gail finished eating quickly, noting that the other girls probably wanted to console their friend. Quickly, Gail left the hall. If anything happened, Lily would likely tell her. Girls could make things complicated sometimes. It was enough to make Gail wish she had been born a boy.

* * *

During her time alone, Gail finally took the time to open her Herbology textbook. She had grown to enjoy Herbology and Defense Against the Dark Arts almost as much as Care of Magical Creatures, mostly because of dealing with the different kinds of creatures. Some of the plants were easily comparable to the baby sloth she had seen at the muggle zoo once. She also enjoyed learning how to deal with the "dark" creatures, which usually weren't any more dangerous that the creatures that she helped Kettleburn feed.

She got about halfway through a page of her herbology textbook when the door to the dormitories flew open. Lily stood there looked shocked and more than a little red in the face. She looked like she had just finished having a screaming match with Potter.

"What's wrong, Lily?" Gail asked, eyeing her friend for any signs of her regular temper, "is it Potter again?"

"No," Lily huffed, "Amber was... Well, she told the others that you..."

"What happened?" Gail sat up, her full attention on Lily.

"She said that you were the cause of her horrible date. I told the others that it was ridiculous but," Lily paused, tears stinging the corners of her eyes, "Amber said that you purposely set up a bad date with Sirius, Gail. She said that you conspired with him to making her look bad."

Gail sighed, "and the others believed it?"

Lily nodded her head timidly, "she said that you asked him to meet her in the hall... She claimed that you corrupted his mind when she was waiting."

Gail felt a surge of warmth towards Lily. She really couldn't care less if the blondes were at odds with her, "obviously, you're the only one that took a good look at me, Lily, because if the others think that I have a reason to wreck Amber's relationship, then the don't know me at all. I'll talk to Amber about it tonight."

That was the end of it their conversation. Gail didn't want Lily to worry about her, and she wasn't about to start feeling sorry for herself because of some minor incident. Gail ended up waiting a few hours for the others to show up. She did her best to ignore the glares she received from Melanie and Avalon. She felt a pang when even Jo ignored her. She knew there was only one thing she could do.

"Amber, can I have a word with you?" Gail asked the blonde calmly.

Amber turned her blue eyes to Gail, glaring at her. She didn't say anything, and simply pursed her lips. It was apparent that she didn't want to talk with Gail at all.

Gail took a breath, forcing herself to remain calm. Just because the other girls were also staring at her did not mean that she should panic. Gail continued speaking, "you know I only asked Sirius to meet you out in the hallway."

Amber's eyes narrowed and she shot a nasty look over her shoulder at Lily. Gail didn't give her any time to speak, though, "I'm sorry that your date didn't turn our like you thought it would."

"You're not sorry at all," Amber spat, "you knew I liked him and you still told him lies and corrupted his mind about me! You ruined everything, Gail! I won't forgive you."

Gail opened her mouth to protest, but Amber cut her off, "don't talk to me. I hate you." With that, Amber spun around and threw herself into her bed.

* * *

Over the course of the next few days, Gail noted that people would be whispering around her and pointing at her when they thought she wasn't looking. They would stop if she walked to close. She had the distinct feeling that they were talking about her. This wouldn't have mattered to her if the other girls weren't ostracizing her.

What made it worse was the fact that Lily had to deal with being stuck in the middle. She understood both sides of the argument, but because she had spoken out for Gail, the others were acting cold to her. It hurt Gail to see the strained relationship between Jo and Lily, but there was little she could do. She had already explained that she hadn't told Sirius to screw up the date, he had done so of his own volition.

Breakfast that morning was horrible. Gail could feel the stares of the students in the Great Hall. Lily wasn't awake yet, so she was eating alone. The marauders weren't even around, so she couldn't eat with her newly found friend, Remus. She was used to being alone, for the most part.

"Excuse me?" A voice squeaked behind her, almost startling her out of her own skin, "I was wondering if you'd like to go on a date with me?"

It was a younger student, he was a Hufflepuff. Gail was rather speechless for a moment. The boy had extremely bright, hopeful eyes. She couldn't help but wonder why he had come to ask her out now.

"Is there a reason why you're asking me out?" Gail asked calmly, her dark brown eyes locked on the boy, "when I don't even know your name?"

"I-I..." the boy stuttered, looking quite confused, "I heard you'd.... I heard that you would 'date' anyone."

"Oh?" Gail's eyebrow raised for a moment. Was this kid suggesting that she was 'easy'?

"I-I-I've admired you since the beginning of the y-year," the boy stuttered, turning extremely pink in the face, his eyes still hopeful. On a normal day, Gail might have complimented the boy because he showed a lot of courage.

Gail shook her head slightly, keeping her eyes on the pitiful boy, "I'm sorry."

The boy looked disappointed, but he turned on his heels, walking stiffly to the Hufflepuff table. Gail decided that it was not a good idea to sit alone in the hall any longer. As soon as she saw the kid sit down, she stood up and collected her things before marching out of the hall. She did her best to ignore the stares of the other students.

She walked towards her charms class, mulling over the idea that a boy had asked her out. It was a little bit exciting, but at the same time... She was frustrated because of the events surrounding Amber. Perhaps the blonde had started a rumour about her being with multiple boys. Gail had never even dated one boy, and she had suddenly gained the status of having many boyfriends?

Gail took a break, halting her steps for a moment. She was probably over thinking what the boy had said...

As Gail was about to continue walking, someone grabbed her arm roughly and pulled her into a dark classroom. Her heart leapt into her mouth, expecting Sirius Black to be at the end of the hand. Luckily, it wasn't him. A boy with very sweaty hands hand pulled her into an abandoned classroom. Gail's eyes went wide.

The boy was wearing a Slytherin tie. She recognized him from her Care of Magical Creatures class – Evan Rosier. One of the worst people to have a run in with. Rosier was bad news to anyone who wasn't a pureblood. He usually kept company with people like Mulciber, Snape and Avery. Pureblood enthusiasts who would harm other students.

Gail slid a hand into her pocket, searching for her wand.

"What's the hurry, Forester?" Rosier growled at her, yanking her hand back out of her pocket before sliding his hand along her knee and up her thigh, "why don't you have a little fun with me here?"

"I don't snog snake-kissers," Gail spat, glaring as she dug into her other pocket. She found her wand and whipped it out, "back off."

"Oh?" Rosier licked his lips, eyeing her like she was a steak, "come on, now. Be a good little kitten, so I don't have to hurt you."

"Back off, Rosier. Your attention is unwanted," Gail repeated, taking a few steps away from the Slytherin. She taunted him, "honestly, is there something wrong with you? Do you have to force a girl to get a snog?"

Her taunting just caused Rosier to grin wider. She had been expecting him to pull out a wand. He stepped forward, snarling, "I like girls that fight back. It makes it so much more-..."

"Stupefy," Gail said nervously, watching Rosier freeze and fall to the ground. She was horrified that she had actually performed a hex on another student. Did that make her no better than the Marauders?

"Sorry," she muttered, sliding her wand back into her pocked before quietly exiting the room.

She found Lily a few minutes later, attempting to talk some sense into Jo. Jo noticed her walking down the hall quickly, but turned her head away and said something quietly to Lily before leaving. When Gail finally stood in front of Lily, she was trembling and looking disoriented.

"Oh Gail!" Lily gasped, staring at Gail's disarrayed appearance, "what happened?"

It took a few minutes to accurately explain what happened to Lily. Lily looked astonished when she finally spoke, "so you hexed Evan Rosier and ran here?"

"Yes," Gail sighed, she had finally been able to relax in Lily's presence, "did I... Did I do the right thing?"

Lily nodded briefly, "it was self defence, Gail, there wasn't anything you could do."

"It sounds like Rosier deserved it," a masculine voice agreed with Lily. Gail turned around to see Severus Snape staring down his nose at her, "he figured it was fine because you have some wizard blood in you, from your squib parent."

Gail didn't want to know how Severus Snape knew about her family. It was slightly discerning. She momentarily wondered if the Slytherins had some way of checking heritage. Then she remembered that her grandfather would have been in some records at Hogwarts. Someone like Snape would have have read quite a few books.

Lily stared at Severus for a moment, "Sev, don't treat Gail like she's less of a human because of her parents."

Severus turned his dark eyes to Lily, Gail noted how much they softened, "I'm not, Lily. You know I don't look down on muggleborns like the others do. I just meant that Rosier thought it was better to snog someone who had some wizard blood in them."

"Yeah, my dad said that his father was a wizard," Gail nodded, "but my father never had any magic."

"What a pity," Severus said, not even turning his eyes away from Lily.

Lily smiled, "is this the first time you two have spoken? Oh Sev, how wonderful it would be if you two could become friends."

Gail rolled her eyes behind Lily's back. That wouldn't happen. She had enough problems because of the marauders without being pranked by them. She was decent with Severus Snape, what more did Lily want? Snape shared her sentiment, as he looked at her disdainfully without saying a word.

"I must go now," Snape said suddenly, "someone has to fix Rosier, I guess."

"See you, Sev," Lily smiled, watching her friend walk away jerkily.

"Lily," Gail sighed, "I don't know what you like about him."

"Not you too! I would have thought that you could see around a person's appearance," Lily scolded, frowning at Gail.

"I do see, but I also see what James Potter sees," Gail said quietly. She was ignored by Lily, who had begun to list off the good things about Severus Snape.

Over the next few days, the rumours began to burn out. Gail was able to relax and enjoy breakfast lately, by herself because Lily was still the only one on speaking terms with her. It was time for her to do what only she could do. She plopped herself on the bench next to Sirius again, and he was shocked by her appearance again.

"Whatcha need? Another friend of yours want a date?" Sirius asked, eyeing her suspiciously, "tell them no if they're anything like Amber Button."

Gail really didn't want to be speaking with Black, but she forced the words out of her mouth, "no, Black, I've come to tell you that you need to talk to her. Give her another chance or something."

Remus was sitting across the table from her this time, slightly more awake. He nodded at her sleepily, offering a little smile. He looked exhausted, but didn't appear to be ill.

"But Forester..." Sirius grumbled, "I..."

"Gail Forester! You...!" A shriek came from across the Great Hall. Upon turning, Gail received a rather harsh slap across the face.

* * *

**Author Note:**

Yes! I am that evil to cut it off there! I'm rather happy with how this chapter turned out. Girls can be so mean! Shout outs to Collylocks for inspiring some teenage drama and cockroaches.

I'm sorry for the delay with this chapter, I was having problems all day logging in, and then wouldn't let me upload the chapter.

Now here is your _Deleted Scene_ and _Commentary Gallery_.

-Rue

* * *

_  
_

_Deleted Scene:_** Boy Love [warning: may make you uncomfortable]**

Remus sat under the tree, allowing his thoughts to spin around in circles. Sirius had just pealed off his shirt, complaining that it was too hot. Girls had been trying to catch Sirius' attention by playing in the lake, clad in skimpy bathing suits.

The werewolf immediately lost his train of thought when Sirius turned around, giving Remus a wonderful view of his sweat-covered pecks. He had to bite his lip and dive into his book to distract himself, but he was finding it extremely hard to concentrate.

"Hey Moony," Sirius grinned, sliding as close to Remus as he could get, "what are you reading that's so interesting?"

Remus nervously looked up, staring into Sirius' beautiful, mysterious, grey eyes. It took him a moment to find the right words, "going over some information for her-herbology."

Remus immediately cursed himself for stuttering slightly. It caused Sirius' smile to widen. The werewolf couldn't help smiling shyly back at the darkly handsome teenager.

"You're so cute, Moony," Sirius growled lowly, resting one of his large hands on Remus' shoulder.

"Cute?" Remus half-squeaked, eyes going large.

"Mmm," Sirius leaned in so that his face was an inch away from Remus', "I could almost eat someone cute like you."

A loud cough interrupted the two boys. James Potter stood next to them, tapping his foot impatiently, "Padfoot, stop teasing Moony."

Peter snickered from behind James, his eyes flickering back and forth between his friends excitedly.

_[A/N: Sorry, that's as far as I can write without making it extremely cheesy. Haha!]_

_

* * *

  
_

**The Comment Gallery**_  
Host: Gail Forester  
Special Guest: Remus Lupin, Peeves._

Gail: Welcome to the Comment Gallery! I'm Gail, the main character of the story. With me today is Remus Lupin! Welcome Remus.

Remus: Thank you, Gail. It's my pl-

-Peeves goes flying through the room, messing up papers-

Remus: It's my pleasure to make an appearance. You look lovely today.

Gail: I always look lovely. Anyway, how are you feeling after that last Deleted Scene?

Remus: That was embarrassing. You can tell that it's one of those things that the author couldn't include in the normal storyline.

-Peeves drops a bucket of water on Remus-

Gail: It appears that Peeves didn't like it either. Anyway, I don't think that scene was meant to be funny. There are many people that think you and Sirius have that kind of relationship.

-Remus uses his wand to dry off-

Remus: Not in this story, we don't. Hopefully, the author has removed that from her system.

Peeves: _Loony, loopy Lupin! Loony, loopy Lupin!_

-Remus grits his teeth-

Gail: Anyway, our first comment comes from a new reader, _MaxRideRox_. Thanks for the review, among other things!

Remus: It seems that I'm fairly underestimated by the readers in terms of romance.

Gail: It sure does, but I feel that the author will give you a fighting chance, you know? Your furry little problem sure is cute!

-Remus gulps-

Remus: Who told you about my...

Gail: Rabbit! I simply love animals! I'd love to meet your bunny sometime!

Peeves: _Loony loopy Lupin!_

-Remus sighs-

Remus: You like rabbits?

Gail: Oh, all sorts of animals! Sloths, hippogriffs, crups, dragons, dogs, cats, werewolves, monkeys, snakes...

-Remus looks shocked-

Remus: Werewolves?

-Peeves blows a loud raspberry-

Gail: I didn't say anything.

-both humans look nervous-

Remus: So... uh, what about the next review?

Gail: There aren't any others. It must have been a full moon or something. The muggle website broke down for a while, making it impossible for our reviews to come in.

-Peeves blows out all of the candles in the room-

Gail: That's all we have for today! Send in your reviews to keep this section interesting!


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"Gail Forester! You...!" A shriek came from across the Great Hall. Amber darted over to her quickly. Upon turning, Gail received a rather harsh slap across the face.

"I was beginning to think you had... But here you are," Amber spluttered, glaring daggers down at Gail, "you know I like him, and you're still doing this!"

Gail raised herself off of the bench indignantly, before snapping, "I was trying to get you a second chance, which you don't even deserve."

Amber only looked slightly shocked, "no you were! You.... You were trying to steal him away!"

"Excuse me?" Sirius said quite loudly, finally speaking up for himself. He didn't look very happy about Amber's presence, "but I don't think I'm an item that can be stolen."

Amber gaped at him for a moment, "w-what? I-I didn't think..."

"No, you didn't think," Sirius stared at her with a mildly bored expression, "I don't much care for possessive girls, hun, so you can just run along."

"Padfoot," Remus's hoarse voice was quite, "couldn't you dump her more... gently?"

Amber wasn't paying attention to the boys anymore, her gaze was fixed on Gail. Threateningly, she pulled out her wand. Gail, on edge because of the incident with Rosier, had untangled herself from the bench and had her own wand out quickly. Before Amber could launch any spells at her, though, both of their wands jumped out of their hands.

"Dueling in the Great Hall?" Professor McGonagall looked extremely unimpressed as she spoke sourly, "I would expect better behaviour from you girls. You will both serve your detentions under Professor Ketteburn by patrolling the Forbidden Forest. Now pick up your wands. You will not be warned again."

As Amber picked up her wand and went to leave the hall, she kept glaring at Gail. It was quite obvious that Gail had been pinned with "poisoning" Sirius Black's mind against her again. At the moment, Gail felt that she would rather serve a detention with Rosier as her companion. It would be safer.

"See what happened?" Remus sighed, "Padfoot, you need to break it to a girl gently..."

"Why should he?" Gail smiled bitterly, "it's not his neck, and girls will always find blame in someone else instead of themselves."

Sirius nodded slowly, "if you break it to them gently, they think that you still 'feel' something for them. Rationally, it's always better to rip the bandage off quickly."

Peter spoke up from where he had been enjoying the show, "that's how girls break up with me, and I'm fine."

James grumbled something into his cereal about "one girl."

Sirius ignored Remus' pained expression, and turned to Gail, "I'll deal with her, so just sit tight."

Gail snorted, settling herself further away from him, "oh, my prince charming. How wonderful. She'll just think I'm influencing you. I'll try to talk to her during our detention."

Sirius ignored her response. He was focused on grabbing the most bacon with one fork he could. Gail finished her breakfast quickly before departing.

* * *

Amber looked like she had gone mad when she arrived for the detention. Her blonde hair looked like a rat's nest, and her skin was blotchy. Her robes were a mess. One of her knee socks was the wrong colour, and the toe of her right shoe was missing. Gail could only guess that Sirius had "dealt" with Amber the way he would deal with any annoyance – with a prank or two.

The two girls didn't say a word to each other while waiting outside for Kettleburn. Gail was fighting back the need to say a nasty remark, and Amber was just glaring at her spitefully. Kettleburn arrived a few minutes after Amber, staring at the two girls for a moment.

"Did you do that, Miss Forester?" Kettleburn asked calmly, referring to Amber's apparel.

"No," Gail said truthfully, catching the professors eyes before Amber could even speak, "the 'marauders' did that to her, as they do to anyone who annoys them."

"Hrm..." Kettleburn pointed his wand at the girls shoe and mended it, "you two are going to patrol the forest tonight. If you find anything, send a flare up."

"Yes sir," Gail nodded, biting the corner of her bottom lip.

"You two work together. There's enough danger in the forest without you two hexing each other," Kettleburn glared at the two girls as if he was daring them to do the opposite, "don't leave one another to the beasts of the forest. Stick together. Keep each other safe."

After being pushed into the forest together, the two girls walked along in silence for a while. Gail was beginning to feel more at ease than she had in the past few weeks. She had been so busy with social drama that she hadn't spent much time helping care for the creatures.

"I heard there are werewolves in this forest," Amber whispered, breaking the silence. She looked terrified.

Gail looked over at the girl and shook her head, "it's not a full moon. You don't have to be afraid of werewolves tonight."

"What about the giants? Centaurs? Spiders?" Amber latched herself onto Gail's arm. Under the light of the stars, Gail could see the whites of the girl's eyes. Her eyes were bulging out of terror.

"Calm down," Gail commanded, "you're a Griffindor for goodness sake."

Amber took a few heavy breaths and released her grip on Gail's arm, "why?"

"Hmm?" Gail asked, seriously studying the blonde, who was still shaking out of fear.

"Why are you nice to me? I spread horrible rumours about you. You could... You could just leave me here, you know. You could keep Sirius to yourself then," Amber muttered, attempting to keep her hands from shaking.

"Who would want to keep Black?" Gail snorted, snatching one of Amber's hands in her own. The blonde's hands were a few degrees cooler and trembling. Gail kept her voice calm to soothe Amber, "I couldn't care less about rumours. I'm just sorry that Black put you through the ringer, but I know you'll find a nice boy who will treat you properly."

Amber's eyes shone in the moonlight. Her hand stopped trembling so much. She didn't speak again, but her soft hand squeezed Gail's calloused one. The girls were so busy rebuilding their relationship that they almost hadn't heard something approaching them from further into the forest.

"Gail, what's that? Lumos!" Amber asked, pointing her want forward. Several pairs of arachnid eyes focused on the girls when Amber illuminated the forest. The girls were partially surrounded by large spiders. The blonde let out a whimper, and took a few steps back.

"Keep your wand on them," Gail hissed, pointing at the sky. She shot off a red sparkler that floated into the sky and lit up like simple firework, "we have to run if they start forward."

The biggest spider of the bunch twitched, moving its leg forward slightly. The other spiders seemed to tremble in response. Gail, still holding Amber's hand, turned her wand on them as well, "let's go, Amber."

Quickly, Gail turned on her heels and sprinted, tugging Amber along after her. The blonde wasn't as sure footed as Gail, who had walked the forest with Kettleburn in the past, so she stumbled from time to time. Gail had to continually catch the girl and force her back to her feet. At that moment, she was thanking the months of moving large wheelbarrows of dung. She was able to keep a good pace as she ran, dragging the blonde along behind her.

"Gail!" The blonde gasped for air, "they're... not... following!"

Gail slowed her run slightly to accommodate the blonde,"keep moving, they might be trailing us to see if we weaken from running."

"Where are you girls running to?" Kettleburn's harsh voice sounded from Gail's right. She abruptly stopped running and turned to face her professor. Amber was panting heavily beside her, and her breathing was somewhat fast.

"Professor," Gail finally spoke, "we found several smaller acromantula... I think."

"I thought they were just giant spiders," Amber whimpered, still clutching tightly to Gail's hand even though both of their hands were sweaty.

"That's what acromantula are," Kettleburn growled, "I told Hagrid not to breed them... Luckily, most of the babies die off in the first year of life because they aren't "

"Hagrid?"

"The man that's set to take over groundskeeping for me within the next few years. I figured I would train him on the finer aspects while I'm still around," Kettleburn explained, ushering the two girls towards the exit of the forest. Gruffly, the man smiled at Gail, "now don't give me that look, it will be a long time before Hagrid will take over my entire job."

Kettleburn cleared his throat, "you two girls did good looking out for one another. Take ten points each. Now, run along. It's past your bedtimes."

Gail released the blonde's hand, but Amber walked next to her all the way up to the tower.

* * *

"So you two ran from a bunch of spiders?" Lily asked, staring at Gail and Amber. It had taken them a better part of an hour to explain absolutely everything to the other girls. There was a general understanding between them that what had happened was purely a misunderstanding on both girl's parts, and no one was to blame.

Gail shook her head, "more like 'giant' spiders."

Amber nodded frantically, "they were huge."

"But they were small for acromantula," Gail added.

"Wait," Amber stopped talking, and turned to Gail, "those were small? How big do they grow?"

"With proper nourishment in their first year, they can become roughly four feet tall. Full grown ones, well..." Gail had to think a moment, "full grown ones can become the size of a small house."

Jo, Avalon and Melanie seemed rather dazed by the fact that Amber and Gail had forgiven each other in such a short time span. None of them had really said anything after they had helped Amber remove the knots out of her hair. They listened quietly when Gail had begun telling Lily about the Forbidden Forest. They seemed rather shocked by the story.

"At least there wasn't a werewolf or two," Melanie piped up, smiling pointlessly at the two girls.

Jo stood up from where she had been sitting and took a few steps forward. Her eyes had not been welcoming to Lily or Gail in the past few days, but she was crying quite profusely. She used her long, quidditch trained arms to wrap Amber, Gail and Lily in a hug.

"No fair!" Melanie squeaked, getting to her feet to join in the group hug. Avalon trailed behind, but she also joined in the hug.

Gail felt a tug in her chest. She was thankful that the other girls had forgiven her. It made her happy to see Lily and Jo acting kindly towards one another again. She knew things between them wouldn't be the same as before, but their relationship would be able to expand in different directions.

* * *

"Hello Remus."

Gail slid into her regular seat in Astronomy, next to the pale boy. He smiled at her warmly, "Gail! How have you been? I didn't see you at breakfast."

"I was up late last night because of my detention," Gail responded to Remus with a sheepish smile, "I had about five minutes to eat."

"How was your detention?" Remus asked softly, "did you work things out with Amber?"

Gail scooted closer to Remus, whispering back, "yes, no thanks to Black."

Remus chuckled, allowing his forhead to bump Gail's, "you know I can't do anything about that. Padfoot can be pretty pigheaded."

Gail pressed her forehead against Remus' more forcefully, "you big wimp."

"Mmm," Remus moved away from her, noticing that many of the other students in the class were staring at them.

Gail grinned at Remus. It was nice to have a male friend that she could "wrestle" with once in a while. She wasn't ever rough with him, because he was a little frail. Gail had found that Remus was sweet-tempered and down to Earth. During the fight between Amber and herself, she had been able to confide in him about her problems. He even understood how she couldn't really talk about it with Lily.

She hadn't told him about how Sirius had kissed her cheek. It had slipped her mind when she was dealing with Amber, but now that the 'crisis' was over, she found that she was very embarrassed over the fact. She was glad that it had merely been on her cheek. It wasn't her first kiss. That was all that mattered, right?

Gail had been staring at Remus for a while. His smile had faded and he waved a hand in front of her face.

"Oh, sorry Remus," Gail smiled weakly at him, "I was just debating on how to tell you that Black kiss my.... My cheek."

Remus blinked a few times. He looked a little shocked, "Padfoot did? I guess that means he's forgiven you. Congratulations."

"You don't..." Gail paused, rubbing her thumb against the callous on her pointer finger, "it doesn't mean anything, does it?"

"Maybe a thank you?" Remus laughed happily, "if he meant anything by it, you would know it."

"Would I?" Gail wondered, turning her attention to their astronomy professor.

* * *

**Author Note:**

This was a huge chapter for friendship. I'm really happy things turned out well at the end of this small-arc. I named Amber after one of my best friends in school. I hope I portrayed the fact that girls can be cruel to one another, but it's always possible for them to become true friends.

Today's _Deleted Scene_ is one that I was actually planning on using in chapter 9. I decided I didn't like it because it pulled the characters too far out of what they would really do in the situation. I hope you enjoy it.

I would also like to apologize ahead of time about the Comment Gallery. What as I thinking in letting Bellatrix Black... Well, we'll see how it goes.

-Rue

* * *

_Deleted Scene: _**My Superman**

As Gail was about to continue walking, someone grabbed her arm roughly and pulled her into a dark classroom. Her heart leapt into her mouth, expecting Sirius Black to be at the end of the hand. Luckily, it wasn't him. A boy with very sweaty hands hand pulled her into an abandoned classroom. Gail's eyes went wide.

The boy was wearing a Slytherin tie. She recognized him from her Care of Magical Creatures class – Evan Rosier. One of the worst people to have a run in with. Rosier was bad news to anyone who wasn't a pureblood. He usually kept company with people like Mulciber, Snape and Avery. Pureblood enthusiasts who would harm other students.

Gail slid a hand into her pocket, searching for her wand.

"What's the hurry, Forester?" Rosier growled at her, yanking her hand back out of her pocket before sliding his hand along her thigh, "why don't you have a little fun with me here?"

"I don't snog snake-kissers," Gail spat, glaring as she dug into her other pocket. She found her wand and whipped it out, "back off."

"Oh?" Rosier licked his lips, eyeing her like she was a steak, "come on, now. Be a good little kitten, so I don't have to hurt you."

"Back off, Rosier. Your attention is unwanted," Gail took a few steps away from the Slytherin, taunting him, "honestly, is there something wrong with you? Do you have to force a girl to get a snog?"

Her taunting just caused Rosier to grin wider. She had been expecting him to pull out a wand. He stepped forward, snarling, "I like girls that fight back. It makes it so much more-..."

Without another word, Rosier felt to the ground with a thud. A dark figure standing behind Rosier had his wand raised. He took a few steps forward into the light. A smug look was smeared on Sirius Blacks face. He looked ecstatic to have hexed a Slytherin, whatever the cause.

"Hey Forester," Sirius greeted her, "sorry if I stole your spotlight."

"Thanks Black," Gail breathed a sigh of relief, stumbling forward. Gail tripped on Rosier's outstreached hand.

With quick reflexes, Sirius' arm snaked around Gail's waist before she could fall to the ground. She could feel his toned body through the front of his robes. Her breath hitched in her throat, and she could feel her face burning up. She didn't dare look up at him for fear of his handsome smirking face, or daring grey eyes. A chuckled reverberated through Sirius' body.

"Aw Gail," Sirius purred in her ear, "you don't have to fall over yourself to thank me."

Gail spluttered, pushing herself away from Sirius. Her heart was pounding in her throat, and she felt like retching. Without another word to Sirius, she ran out of the room.

* * *

**The Comment Gallery**_  
Host: Gail Forester  
Special Guest: Bellatrix Black_

Gail: Welcome to the Comment Gallery. I'm- omph.

-Gail slumps over-

Bellatrix: Finally, my chance to make an appearance. You're reading the new,_ Dark Gallery,_ hosted by me; the wonderful Bellatrix Black. I've decided to take over this section. It's about time all of you appreciate the Dark Arts a bit more.

-Bella grins wickedly and roughs up her curly hair-

Bellatrix: First of all, I'll need to go through the dirty muggle's reviews to make sure... well, so I know who to hunt down first.

-Bella sneers-

Bellatrix: First up is _Angel of Apathy_. You are correct, magic is superior to muggle technology in countless ways. This is why mudbloods are dirty, they haven't had the wonderful, pure lives that _we_ have.

-Bella tosses the review onto the ground-

Bellatrix: The next review is from _HigurashiRei_. This is the next chapter... Are muggles always impatient?

-Bella drops the review onto the ground, sneers as she reads the next one-

Bellatrix: It looks like _MaxRideRox_ has mentioned my dear cousin. Why you would care about that blood traitor, I will never know. Someday soon, he will be burned off the family tree.

-Bella takes a swig from Gail's butterbeer-

Bellatrix: I happen to have heard that the author is planning on running this story all the way to the end of the Harry Potter books. I also heard that she's planning on making _our_ side win the first wizarding war, so it could just be speculation.

-Bella flicks her wand, sitting Gail upright-

Bellatrix: Hmm... that's all that I have to say for now. Send in your reviews, or I'll have some fun with this little mudblood. _Crucio_!

-Gail shakes violently-

Bellatrix: Bye for now, _loves_.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Gail awoke one Saturday morning, a few days before the beginning of the Christmas break. She felt quite peaceful, but that peace was broken when a loud hoot forced her to open her eyes. An owl was sitting on her bedside table with its leg stretched out. She didn't know how long the bird had been there. The tawny haired girl reached a hand out from under her pillow and tugged the letter free. She nodded thankfully at the owl, who hooted and flew off through the dormitory's open door.

Sitting up, Gail unfolded the note and scanned it. It was her father's handwriting. It looked like he had written it fast.

_Dear Gail,_

_I've gone to visit some of my relatives in Sweden for a few months. I will give them your well-wishes. As it stands, I won't be able to pick you up so please remain at school over the holidays. I love you. Be good and remember to behave. I don't want any more letters about detentions._

_Much love,  
Papa_

Gail read and reread the note several times. She couldn't recall any relatives in Sweden that she knew of. She didn't bother about such a small detail, though, because she had heard of very few family members, to begin with. She carefully folded the letter and stuck it into the side of one of her textbooks.

Amber was awake, Gail noted, and she was taking up a considerable portion of the bathroom. The blonde had curled her hair, much the same as when she had gone on a date with Sirius Black. The blonde's makeup was a touch on the heavy side, but Gail didn't say anything.

"Oh!" Amber turned on a warm smile, "good morning Gail."

"Morning Amber," Gail responded sleepily, "have a date today?"

"Yes," Amber positively beamed at her, "I did what you said. I found a boy that would treat me good. We're going to have a picnic in one of the greenhouses."

"Who's the lucky boy?" Gail chuckled, running her hairbrush through her dusky hair. Her hair was still somewhat smooth from the charm that had been put on it. Lily had been able to replicate it on her own red hair, but the effect didn't last more than half a day, "someone I know?"

"Ravenclaw's Jeremy Watson," Amber answered breathily, "he's no Sirius Black, but his looks are up there, and he's incredibly witty."

Gail smiled. She couldn't think of anyone more suited to Amber than a Ravenclaw that cared what others thought of him. Watson was known for being only interested in girls from a well-off background. Yes, Watson and Amber would have a successful relationship, if only in theory.

* * *

Gail didn't look forward to Christmas at all. Lily's parents had invited Jo over for the holidays, and the blondes had gone home as well. She found that it was utterly odd to wake up in the Griffindor dormitory with only her cat, Mati, present. The lack of heavy breathing shook her somewhat. In the moments between being asleep and awake, she felt the distinct difference between being lonely and being alone. For a moment, being alone seemed far worse.

Gail slowly opened her eyes, staring at the wizard clock on the table for a seconds. She slowly stretched her back, feeling it crack in several spots. She dressed herself in a mundanely festive sweater and a plaid skirt that fell around her ankles. She had pulled on some stockings to protect against the winter air. On her way down the stairs, she heard whispering. The whispering stopped when she entered the common room.

Sitting near a table, that they had transfigured out of one of the chairs, James and Sirius were stuffing their faces. There were platters of pancakes, eggs and bacon sitting in the middle of the table.

"Mornin' Forester!" James greeted cheerfully. He was wearing what looked like a hand-knit sweater. The details on his sweater were well done. Griffindor's emblem adorned the front of the ruby red sweater. Whoever had made it had put a large amount of effort and love into it.

Gail noted that Sirius had a similar sweater on, but in a darker red. He also looked over at her and offered a cheeky smile, "mornin'."

"Where are Peter and Remus?" Gail asked slowly approaching the two, eying them suspiciously. The common room was empty except for them. She assumed that the majority of Griffindors had gone home or had been forced to evacuate by the marauders.

"Wormtail went home and Moony wasn't feeling well, so he went to the hospital wing," James piped up, noticing that Gail was staring at his sweater, "jealous? My mum made them for us."

Gail shifted uncomfortably, turning a little red in the face. Sirius laughed at her in his normal half-barking way, "we got some house elves to bring food up to the common room. You can have some, if you want."

"Thanks," Gail muttered, nestling next to James on the couch and grabbing a pancake. She nibbled on the pancake for a bit, ignoring the stares of the two boys, "poor Remus. Sick on Christmas."

After a long moment of silence, Gail finally got up the nerve to start a small conversation, "get anything good for Christmas? Besides the sweaters, I mean."

"I got a howler from my mom," Sirius grinned, "a really nasty one, too. A pair of socks from my uncle and some muggle magazines from my cousin, Andromeda."

James grinned like her was superior, "I got a pocket watch from my dad, some chocolates, the sweater... What about you Gail?"

Gail shrugged neutrally, "I got a bracelet from my dad, a book from Avalon and Melanie, a muggle ring from Amber, a quidditch poster of some guy from Jo, and Squeak-Socks from Lily."

"Socks, huh?" James stored the information about Lily in the back of his mind.

"What about your mum?" Sirius asked casually chewing on a piece of bacon, "didn't get any from her?"

"She's been dead for too long to send gifts," Gail said bluntly, doing her best to ignore their reaction by shoveling food into her mouth until her stomach was full.

"Ah," Gail said, looking over at the ancient clock in the common room, "I was going to swing by Professor Kettleburn's hut to see if he needed help with anything."

James looked mildly interested, "we'll come with you!"

Sirius nodded, agreeing with James, "he might let us walk around the forest, right?"

Gail shrugged, pulling out her wand, "accio." Her winter gear flew through the air. She pulled on her thick, winter robe and scarf. She also ensured that her boots were tied properly at the top. Gail was surprised that the two boys were ready to leave quickly. She was equally surprised that the two didn't attempt to frolic in the snow on the way. She briefly remembered the snow fight that the marauders had orchestrated in their second year. She hadn't seen anything, but she had heard that quite a few Slytherins had gone to the hospital wing afterwards.

When the three students arrived at Kettleburn's hut, Gail rapped on the door with her knuckle. There was a scraping of chairs and the door flung open. The dusky haired girl was left staring at the chest of a rather massive man.

"S'thin' I help yeh with?" The towering man asked. Gail regarded him for a moment. He looked rather similar to a devilish woodsman, with eyes like black beetles.

"We're looking for Professor Kettleburn, sir," Gail responded meekly, "we thought we would give him a hand if he needed it."

The man grunted, stepping aside, "c'mon in. S' too cold out there for yeh young'uns."

Gail walked in, minding the snow on her boots. Sirius and James didn't, though. They tracked quite a bit of snow in. They all settled themselves on a piece of furniture, leaving the largest chair for the burly man. When the large man had sat down, he stared at them.

"You must be Hagrid," Gail said wistfully, "Professor Kettleburn said he was training you."

"Aye," Hagrid nodded his shaggy head, "S' been lettin' me stay here with him."

"Oh," Gail nodded, "my name is Gail Forester, and these two are James Potter and Sirius Black."

Hagrid took note of the two boys, offering them a nod. Gail admired how shy Hagrid seemed. It was apparent that he hadn't been in contact with other witches and wizards very much. He was far from trusting.

"Care of Magical Creatures is my favourite class," Gail rambled, "I simply love taking care of animals, magical or not. Do you... do you like animals, Hagrid?"

Hagrid stared at her for a moment before nodding, "aye, I wish I ha' me own pet dragon."

Gail's face lit up, "oh, I think we share the same dream! I just wish it wasn't so hard to get a dragon egg by legal means."

Hagrid finally smiled, "ah, yeh're the gall tha' Kettleburn was talkin' about."

Sirius yawned, already bored with the direction that the conversation was going, looked about ready to fall asleep. James, who was more interested in Hagrid than the conversation, wasn't even paying attention. Both boys seemed to make the gruff man a little quieter by not talking.

"Ah," Hagrid said, "Kettleburn should be back soon. He might be needin' yer help."

At that moment, the door slammed open. Kettleburn stood there, staring at the four people in his house for a moment. He looked quite puzzled.

"Professor!" Gail stood up, "we came to see if you needed any help today."

"In the festive mood, are we?" Kettleburn smiled fondly at the girl before turning to Hagrid, "why don't you take these three to feed our special guests? I'm sure they'll enjoy it."

"Alrigh'," Hagrid agreed, pulling on his coat.

Hagrid led the three students to the edge of the forest before stopping. There was one smallish wooden crate that seemed to be humming. Hagrid walked over to it and opened it. Several cream coloured balls of fur jumped out.

"Puffskeins!" Gail laughed, catching one in her arms.

Hagrid nodded, "some of th' thir' years get t' care for 'em for a while. Dunno why anyone would want t' look after these..."

Sirius caught one and tossed it in the air like a quaffle. Gail wasn't amused by the sight. She cuddled her puffskein closer, while responding to Hagrid, "I think they're cute."

"Girls," James grinned, juggling three of the fur balls. Gail snorted, ignoring the two boys that were doing their best to get her to 'throw down the gauntlet'. She wasn't mad, though, she just thought it was disgusting to act so carelessly with a living creature.

"They like being tossed around – gently," Sirius grinned, motioning at the one that was practically purring in his hands. Gail snorted, causing both Sirius and James to laugh.

If Gail had been nervous around the two boys before, she wasn't anymore. They were easier to be around when they weren't causing trouble or being prats. She felt herself smiling and laughing more than she had in a while. They had fed and played with the large puffballs. They spent so much time outside with the puffskeins that Gail had lost track of the time. She was thankful that her stomach reminded her to eat. They had finished putting the little fur balls back into their wooden crate.

"Supper time," James grinned, running a hand through his hair to mess it up.

"Thanks fer helpin' wit' these lil guys," Hagrid smiled at the students, "yeh get yerselves back up to th' castle afore it gets dark."

Gail nodded, "goodbye Hagrid. It was nice meeting you."

Upon entering the Great Hall, Gail's head swivelled around. Remus was not in the Great Hall. There were no house tables at Christmas. James sat down among some other Griffindors. She sat beside James and Sirius sat on the other side of him. It felt strange that Peter and Remus were missing.

"Watch this..." James muttered to the two other Griffindors. He pointed his wand, under the table, at the far end. Gail noted that Snape and some of his 'friends' were sitting there. There was a one second pause before the other students started scooting further down the bench. Snape's head jerked around as if he was looking for something.

"Oh, good one," Sirius grinned at his friend, with a knowing look, "making the bench fart."

Gail couldn't help it. The idea of a farting bench made her laugh quite loudly. Sirius and James joined in her mirth, and they had a good moment.

"Good one, James," Gail grinned before finishing off her mashed potatoes.

"Gail," James laughed.

"Gail," Sirius echoed his friend, a devious smile on his face.

"What, what?" Gail looked up to see both of them staring at her.

"You have potatoes on your face," James stated, using the back of his hand to wipe it off her face.

"Again," Sirius barked, "messy eater."

Gail dared a small glare at Sirius. Before she could retort anything back at him, a small hand pressed on her shoulder. Swinging her head around, Gail found herself face to face with Professor McGonagall. The head of Griffindor seemed extremely somber.

"Miss Forester, Professor Dumbledore would like to speak with you, follow me."

Gail nodded, getting up from the table. She caught James' worried look for a moment, but she still turned and followed the professor out of the hall. She could only wonder why the headmaster would want to speak with her...

* * *

**Author Note:**

This chapter was a little slow. It's a precursor for the next chapter. I hope I've given all of you enough hints! I think there have been five in total. Kudos if you can find or remember them!

Next chapter is going to be a little crazy.

Anyway, on the show must go on. Today's _Deleted Scene_ is from my favourite "fairy tale". It's quite long. I hope you enjoy it.  
-Rue

* * *

_Deleted Scene:_ **Gail White and Lily Red**

Once upon a time, was a lonely widow. In front of the widow's house were two rose trees; one red and one white. The widow often called her two daughters nicknames corresponding to the rose bushes; Rose Red and Snow White. Their true names had been forgotten. The two girls were busy and cheerful for much of the year. Rose Red was more rambunctious and spirited than her sister; she often ran through the fields collecting flowers and dreaming of adventure. Snow White was more gentle, and often stayed indoors to help her mother with chores. During her spare moments, she would read or play with the family's kitten.

Rose Red had sleek, dark red hair that looked almost akin to the colour of the roses she was nicknamed after. She had wonderful, emerald green eyes that reminded her mother of springtime. There was hardly a moment when a cheerful smile was not on Red Rose's face. Snow White's hair was not as vibrant, it was more a dusky tone, closer to that of her mother's. Her skin was fair and pale, like snow. Snow White had calming, dark brown eyes.

The two daughters were inseparable. This was because they adored each other very much. They had vowed that neither would leave the other, forever, and they would share everything. The two girls, Rose Red and Snow White, would often walk together, hand in hand, though the forest while picking berries. No harm would befall them. The animals of the forest would approach the two girls timidly. A hare would take food from their hands, a stag would dance around them merrily. Birds would sing around them constantly. If night fell in the forest, the two girls would find a cozy piece of moss to sleep on. They would find no harm in the forest. Their mother knew not to worry.

The two girls took turns keeping their mother's cottage neat and tidy. Often, Rose Red would bring flowers for her mother, and leave them on the bedside table. Snow White would watch that the fire remained large enough to keep the cottage warm through the winter. She would also prepare breakfast for her mother and sister.

"Snow White, bolt the door," their mother said one wintry evening as she was preparing to read a large book to the two girls. There was a loud knocking on the door, which prompted their mother to speak, "quickly, Rose Red, open the door. A traveller must be stuck in the snow storm."

Rose Red quickly pushed the bolt and opened the door, expecting to see a poor traveller. This was not the case. A large bear stood on its haunches, staring down at the girl. Rose Red screamed and leapt back. Snow White hid behind her mother's bed. The family's cat had its haunches up, its eyes glaring at the bear.

"Don't be afraid, I will do you no harm! I'm almost frozen. I just want to warm myself up a bit," the bear grumbled, his fur covered in snow.

There was a look of pity in the widow's eyes as she spoke, "poor bear. Come in and sleep by the fire, but make sure you do not burn your coat."

The bear looked at the girls, "would you knock some of the snow out of my fur?"

The girls, timid around the bear, used a broom to sweep the snow out of his fur. Slowly, the bear and the girls became more comfortable to each other's presence. The bear had stretched himself out by the fire, and was half asleep. The girls soon began to play with their large guest. They would pull at his fur with their hands and rolled him about the cabin. The bear took it all and laughed, "please leave me alive."

The widow allowed the bear to sleep by the hearth at night. At dawn, the girls opened the door to let the bear leave. After that night, the bear came back every evening at the same time, and allowed the girls to amuse themselves before bed. Winter was soon over, and the bear told the girls that he could not come back for the whole summer.

"Why won't you be able to come back?" Snow White asked, upset that she would not be able to see him for a while.

"I must go and protect my treasure from evil dwarves," the bear grumbled. In his haste to leave, the bold scratched him, removing some of his fur. Snow White thought she saw some gold under the fur, but the bear moved too quickly for her to see clearly.

After a short amount of time, the widow sent her two daughters to get fire wood from the forest. While they were walking hand-in-hand, the two girls spotted something next to a tree. As they approached, the saw that it was a dwarf with a malformed nose, greasy hair and an extremely long, black beard. The dwarf had the end of his beard caught in the crevice of a tree.

"Why are you just standing there?" The dwarf snapped nastily, "come help me. I can not get away, you ugly, sleek, milk-faced things."

The two girls tugged on the beard, but could not free it. Red Rose looked the dwarf in the eye, "wait here, we will go fetch someone to help."

"Why would you fetch someone?" The dwarf snapped again, "you two are already two too many for me, you senseless goose."

"Be patient," Snow White commanded the dwarf gently, as she pulled a pair of scissors out of her pocket, "I will help you."

With that, Snow White carefully snipped the ends of the dwarf's beard off. The dwarf went flying backwards and landed on his bottom. The little man scrambled to grab his bag that was full of gold. He snarled at the girls, "uncouth people, to cut off a piece of my fine beard. Bad luck on you!"

With that, the dwarf ran off without looking back at the girls.

A few days later, the girls were going to catch some fish for their mother when they came across the dwarf again. He looked like a grasshopper, jumping towards the water. Red Rose decided to speak up, "where are you going? Surely, you don't want to enter the water?"

"I'm not a fool," the dwarf snapped at her jerkily, "the accursed fish is trying to pull me in."

The dwarf had been fishing. Unluckily, his black beard had become tangled with the fishing line. He was slowly being dragged towards the water by his beard. The dwarf was going his best to hold onto anything around him, but it was no good. The girls made it just in time. Carefully, Snow why clipped off the part of his beard that was snagged on the fishing line, much to the dwarf's dismay.

The dwarf looked down at his beard before screaming at the girls, "you toad-stool! You've disfigured my face! You've cut off the best part of my beard! Now I can't show my face to people! I wish you had been made to run the soles off of your shoes!"

With that, the dwarf snatched up a bag of pearls. Without another word, he dragged the back again, and disappeared behind a stone.

A few days later, their mother had asked them to head to town to buy needles and thread, and laces and ribbons. On their way, they found the the dwarf had been caught by an eagle and was about to be carried off. The two girls, full of pity for the poor dwarf, grabbed onto him and pulled him free from the eagle.

The dwarf was ungrateful again, "could you not have been more careful? You pulled at my coat and now it has holes. You helpless, spoilt creatures."

The dwarf picked up his sack of gems and went back into his hold, behind the rock. The girls were used to him ungratefulness, and continued on their way to the town. On their way back, the girls passed by the dwarf's hiding spot. The evening light caught on the dwarf's treasure and sparkled radiantly.

"What are you looking at?" The dwarf snapped, his face becoming red with anger. He started to insult the two girls quite loudly until he heard the bear approaching through the forest. The dwarf darted up in fright, but he couldn't get to his cave, the bear was too close.

In dread, the dwarf cried out, "please spare me! What would you want with such a small fellow as I? Come, take these two wicked girls. They will fill you up and make you fat."

The bear took no notice of his words, but gave the wicked dwarf a single blow with his paw. The dwarf did not move again. This scared the two girls, who had run away.

"Snow White, Rose Red, wait. I will come with you," the bear called to them. Recognizing his voice, the two girls waited. When he approached them, his bear skin fell off. There he stood, with light tan hair and kind eyes. He was dressed in gold.

"I am a King's son," he spoke gently, "I was bewitched by that dwarf, who had stolen my treasures. Upon his death, I have been freed. My name is Remus."

Snow White curtsied to the prince, "my real name is Gail. My sister is Lily."

Gail was married to their bear-prince. Her sister, Lily, married his younger brother, James. The two sisters divided everything between them, including the dwarf's treasure. Their mother lived peacefully and happily with her children for many years. She took the two rose-trees with her, and they stood before her window, and every year bore the most beautiful roses, white and red.

* * *

**The Comment Gallery**_  
Hosts: Bellatrix Black, Gail Forester  
Special Guest: James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew._

Bellatrix: Welcome to the Dark Gallery. I'm Bellatrix Black. Today we'll be discussing the best uses for the unforgivables.

-Bella pulls out her wand and points it at Gail-

James: Hold it right there, Black. Move away from Gail.

-Marauders have their wands pointed at her-

Bellatrix: Fine...

-Bella walks off-

Remus: Finite.

Peter: Oh wow, this room is so cool.

-Gail can't get up-

James: Since Gail has been K. for today, we'll be helping out. Wormtail, read the first review.

Peter: The first review is from _MaxRideRox_.

Sirius: Of course you like me, you have great taste.

-Bella's sob of frustration is heard in the hallway-

James: I don't know how often Bellatrix will be in the story in the early chapters. Gail tends to keep her head down a lot more than us. Remember that time in Transfiguration? We made her hair red with the Griffindor lion imprinted on the back of little Bella's head.

Remus: And you got scolded by McGonagall. And given twice the amount of detentions that the rest of us got.

-James shrugs-

Sirius: Trust me, we prank my two _wonderful_ cousins almost as much as we get Snivellus.

Peter: The next review is from A-A-_Angel of Apathy_.

-Peter blushes-

Sirius: Apparently, Remus has a girlfriend. Ooooh~

-Remus hides behind a book-

James: I can't believe how girls have fights over stupid things like Sirius.

Sirius: HEY! ... I'm not stupid.

Peter: I felt more sorry for Evans than Gail. She was probably being pulled by both sides of the argument. Of course, it wasn't shown because Gail kept to herself over the two weeks.

Remus: No she didn't. She confided in me.

James: What did she tell you?

Sirius: TELL US! IT IS YOUR DUTY!

-Peter looks overly excited-

Remus: Oh, I don't know...

-Remus caves, seeing that he got three puppy-dog eyes. Gail moans and rolls over-

Gail: Don't... Remus... Don't give in!

Remus: I can't... I'm sorry Gail. My willpower is just not strong enough!

-Sirius makes the "score" motion with his arms-

Remus: Never mind, I forgot what I was going to say.

James: Well, that's all there is for the Comment Gallery. Send in your reviews for Gail, who will be back next time!

Sirius: Send me more fan mail.

Remus: Because the two of you _really_ need to inflate your egos more.

Peter: See you!


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

It was her first time being in the headmaster's office. She would have looked around at all of the peculiar items, if she didn't feel sick from nerves. She had been left to sit in front of a rather peculiar desk. It was fit for a man like Dumbledore.

"Ah, Miss Forester," a voice chimed from behind her, "I apologize for being absent when you arrived."

Dumbledore sat behind his desk, staring at her for a moment. He tented his fingers. No smile found its way onto his face. Gail admired how his beard didn't get tangled up or knotted. Seeing the headmaster's determined stare, she felt a ball in her throat.

"Is something wrong, sir?" Gail asked timidly, feeling her face flush slightly.

"Miss Forester, recently we have investigated the whereabouts of your guardian," Dumbledore started, "and we have found no trace of him. Can you explain this?"

"No trace? At my house?" Gail asked, tilting her head to the side, "that's strange. Papa just sent me a letter saying he would be in Sweden over the holidays. Did he pack everything up to take?"

Dumbledore's clear blue eyes burned into hers, "no, Miss Forester. When we arrived at your dwelling, we found that a majority of the furniture looked like it hadn't been lived in for centuries but for one bedroom, which we assumed was yours."

Gail's eyes widened, "I was just there during the summer, sir. I mean, the house isn't anything fancy, but my Papa lived there. You must have the wrong house."

Dumbledore slowly shook his head, "23 Wisteria Lane. There was no mistake. See this picture?"

The headmaster slipped her a wizard photograph in black and white. The photograph was of an old, rickety house. It was filled with cobwebs and dust. The wallpaper was pealing off of most of the walls, and the floor was faded. Gail shook her head, that wasn't the house that she had grown up in. She watched as the photograph changed, like a muggle movie, to show the kitchen, and then up the stairs.

Gail was staring at her bedroom. It was more dull than she remembered, but it was hers. She snapped her head up to look at Dumbledore, "what kind of joke is this?"

Dumbledore had been watching her, and remained calm, "Miss Forester, do you have proof that your father is living?"

"I have my father's letter! And I have a photograph of him," Gail said firmly, I stuck them in my Herbology textbook."

The headmaster nodded waving his beautiful phoenix over, "go find the textbook she's talking about. Bring the letter and the photograph here."

The bird nodded it's sleek head and flew off. Gail, forgetting everything else, stared after the bird with her mouth hanging open slightly. Within seconds, the dusky haired girl had become enthralled with Dumbledore's pet almost completely.

"Ah, you do enjoy magical creatures, don't you," Dumbledore smiled at her. She immediately snapped her mouth shut and gave a firm nod. She felt her stomach squirm slightly from nerves as they waited for the bird to come back. By the time Fawkes had arrived again, they had been sitting in silence for nearly ten minutes.

Dumbledore took the items from his bird. He scanned the picture quickly, and then glanced down at the paper.

"Miss Forester, there is nothing written here," Dumbledore said quietly, turning over the note for Gail to see. Her eyes widened when she saw that there was nothing on the paper. The headmaster also turned over the photo to her, "and the photo is just of a cat."

"But," Gail stared at the photo, "I know that photograph had my father in it, too."

"There isn't anything else you can think of?" Dumbledore asked her calmly, his blue eyes still focused on her.

"Well, my bracelet," Gail said quietly, fiddling with the latch on it until it came off, "I got it from him for Christmas."

Gail handed the bracelet to Dumbledore resolutely. He examined the silver chair before cradling the heart-shaped charm between his fingers. He read the inscription out loud, "for my sweet Lyre."

Gail went pink in the face, "my middle name, sir."

Dumbledore nodded, prodding the bracelet with his wand. Nothing happened, so he turned his gaze back to Gail as he handed the silver bracelet back to her, "this is nothing more than muggle jewellery. I can't learn anything about your father from this."

"It isn't possible that your father is a ghost?" Dumbledore asked calmly, "like the ones at Hogwarts? Or maybe a vampire or inferius?"

"No, sir," Gail responded, firmly shaking her head, "he was fully opaque and gave off no signs of being dead. He didn't drink anyone's blood."

"No, I bet we would have found some remnants of blood if he was a vampire," Dumbledore agreed, shaking his head, "well, Miss Forester, if you have nothing to add, I would like to recommend that you stay at Hogwarts for all holidays. You are fifteen, right? You will only have a year before you can live on your own. I will inquire within the ministry to have you placed in a wizarding house that you will feel comfortable with during the summer. "

With that, Dumbledore led her to the door of his office, "I will hold onto your photo and letter to see what I can learn from them."

"Alright," Gail conceded, "well, good night Professor."

"Oh, Miss Forester?" The headmaster piped up, "do keep this meeting to yourself. We don't want anyone panicking or starting rumours, do we?"

"No sir," Gail bobbed her head.

After leaving his office, she suddenly felt winded. What did the whole meeting mean? Was her father really a figment of her imagination? Was she loony to the point of buying jewellery for herself and pretending that it was from someone else?

Normally, she would have gone back to the Griffindor Common room, but tonight was different. She walked quickly towards the library. If Severus Snape was able to find information about her family, she would be able to, as well. Even if she had to pull out many different books. She did so.

The stack of books that rested next to her on the desk loomed over her head. She went through many different books on Genealogy, finding several different renditions of family trees, including the Potters and the Blacks. She finally found a book with her last name listed. It briefly mentioned a man named Devon Forester marrying into some other family. The book didn't list any children from the marriage.

She scanned another book that was about the family. There was more written about a Devon Forester; how he graduated in the same year as his wife. He was a muggleborn, and his wife was a Prewett. The two married without a hitch. Gail's eyes were glued onto the final sentence about the Foresters.

_Couple died without giving birth to children._

Gail's mind and to spin around for a moment. Either she wasn't related to this Forester, or something was terribly wrong. She wouldn't let her mind settle on it. Gail would not think about it. She quickly closed the book and turned to leave the library. Absently, she left the pile of books for the librarian to put away.

She wouldn't let herself question who she was. A last name didn't mean anything, right? She made her way back to the Griffindor tower. When she neared a window, she could have sworn that she heard the howl of a werewolf. Gail would have noted the full moon if she wasn't preoccupied.

Gail spent the next few days pondering over the meaning of what she had discovered the previous day. Consequently, she hadn't spoken to anyone. She had gone for meals about once a day, and the rest of her time was spent in the library. She even fell asleep in the library one night, hidden under a pile of books.

She had gone no where. There were no other Foresters, other than one Devon, mentioned in any of the books at Hogwarts. Gail didn't know what to think. She had gained nothing from the books other than a headache.

"Look what we have here, Prongs," sarcasm threaded Sirius' voice, "a little birdy hidden in the library reading about..."

"Families?" James grabbed a book from Gail's pile and made a sour look, "this one is your family, Padfoot."

Gail rested her head against the back of the chair, staring at the library's enchanted ceiling. She didn't even look up when Remus sat across from her. He gave her a puzzled look, but didn't say anything.

"I can't find it," Gail groaned, rubbing her eyes.

"What are you looking for?" Remus asked quietly, his voice scratchy and hoarse, "maybe we can help?"

Gail's head snapped up, and she stared at Remus for a second, "ah, hi Remus..."

"Why are you looking at these?" Sirius growled, tossing some of the books onto the floor under the table.

Gail turned to stare at him for a second, as if she hadn't realized he was there, "I was looking for my grandfather."

"Oh?" Sirius frowned at her, "you aren't related to me, are you?"

"No. Neither am I related to the Potters, the Burkes, Longbottoms, Malfoys, or any of the other prominent pureblood families," Gail sighed heavily, leaning back against the chair before mumbling, "I might be a distant relative of the Prewetts, thought."

"Might?" James leaned across the table and grabbed one of the open books. He read the part about Devon. He grinned, "it looks Sirius' uncle's father's brother's daughter's husband was a Forester."

"How wonderful," Sirius looked at the book and shrugged, "who cares about families, anyway?"

"I just needed something to do... I..." Gail gulped, not making eye contact, "Dumbledore said that my father has gone missing."

"Your dad?" James looked shocked, he had sat down in a chair the wrong way, "is it because of those Death Snoggers or whatever that make the news every once in a while?"

Gail shook her head, "no, I don't think so. He sent me a note before he left and... Well, he also sent my this bracelet for Christmas. Professor Dumbledore said not to mention it to other students."

"I'm sure it'll be fine, Gail," Remus attempted to soothe her, "I bet he's just gone away for a while. I'm sure he'll come back."

Gail nodded dully at Remus' words. She knew she wouldn't tell anyone the whole story of what Dumbledore had told her, because it made her feel like a piece of her heart was missing. Her whole chest felt sore, and there was nothing she could do about it. No information would ease her sense of loss.

"I know!" James jumped up from his seat, "why don't we go play some quidditch?"

Gail stared at James as if he had suggested something utterly ridiculous, like dancing with a boggart, "in the snow? Not to mention there's only four of us."

James laughed, grabbing her elbow, "if we do groups of two, it'll be fine. Besides, practising in the cold is what real athletes do, you know. It'll be good for you."

Gail frowned, but allowed James to pull her around, "fine, but you have to make the teams even."

* * *

Gail was lousy. She could fly just fine, if slowly, but she had horrible hand-eye co-ordination. She had missed every quaffle that James had thrown her. He eventually told her to pretend to be a keeper, because then she would have a reason to use her entire body to stop the quaffle. It wasn't just her lack of skills, though, that made her lousy. Her arms were becoming tired, and her bottom was sore. Above all else, the cold was making her nose run like a faucet, and her hands felt partially frozen.

James had teamed Sirius and Remus together. Remus was a decent flyer and had helped James train for quidditch tryouts and such in the past. Sirius was almost on par with James. Gail felt a twinge of guilt when she saw James being double teamed. Sirius passed the ball around James and Remus caught it easily before flying towards her.

Gail prepared herself mentally for the ball. She told herself over and over to catch the thing, and hoped that Remus would at least throw it gently. When he wound up, he offered Gail a small smile before tossing the quaffle towards the left hoop. As far as knee-jerk reactions go, Gail was good. She clipped the ball with her foot, sending it away. She wished for an ounce of Jo's talent at that moment.

"Good block," James praised her after retrieving the quaffle. Gail just laughed bitterly. Her laugh sounded harsh and somewhat robotic, so she didn't laugh for long.

"Let's go in," Remus finally implored his friends, who exchanged knowing looks before agreeing with him.

Gail slowly drifted her broom towards the ground, feeling her ears 'pop' with the pressure difference. She had never been happier to walk on the ground in her life.

"I don't think I'm meant for flying on a broom," Gail told the boys, causing Sirius to laugh.

Remus wrapped an arm around her shoulder, "you aren't that bad, Gail, you just need a tad more practice flying before you try playing quidditch again."

"I wish I could ride on the back of a dragon," Gail said wistfully, "I would be really good at quidditch then."

James snickered at the idea of playing quidditch on dragons, "that would make scoring quaffles too easy. You could just light the keeper's broom on fire."

When they arrived back in the castle after playing for what felt like hours, Gail felt her stomach rumble. It was amazing what a change of scenery could do to improve one's appetite. It was already dark, and there wasn't any food left in the Great Hall. Gail frowned, wishing she knew where the kitchens were.

"I'm a tad hungry," Sirius complained, wrapping an arm around Gail, possibly to mimic Remus, "hey Gail, come with me to the kitchens?"

"No fair, Padfoot," James complained, also throwing an arm around her, "I was going to ask her to accompany me."

"Huh?" Gail asked, staring at Remus for an answer.

"We noticed you weren't at any meals in the past two days," Remus smiled peacefully, "and your stomach growls louder than one of your beloved dragons."

For once, Gail allowed herself to be entertained by the marauders. They took her mind off of her father, and the problem surrounding her identity. She would bask in their friendly glow for a while longer. She didn't want to ask, though, how they knew where the kitchen was.

"This is a marauder secret," Sirius stated seriously as they reached a painting of different fruits, "we could get in trouble for this kind of information."

Gail nodded, staring at the lovely portrait. It looked different from the other paintings, the fruit didn't move. Gail could almost make out something, was it behind the painting?

Peter practically skipped over to the portrait, lifted a hefty hand and tickled the pear. The fruit giggled, and turned into a golden door knob. Peter turned the handle and walked through. Sirius and James guided Gail in.

Gail had never seen so many house elves in one place. In fact, she had only ever read about them. They had huge ears and eyes. They were the most adorable creatures Gail had met in Hogwarts. Of course, they didn't have the sheer beauty of a dragon, and were not cuddly like crups or puffskeins, but they had their own charm.

"Would the Miss like something to eat, as well?" Gail snapped out of her reverie, seeing that the boys already had some food. The darling little house elf was staring at her with its huge eyes.

"Oh, yes please!" Gail smiled fondly at the elf, "anything you can spare would be lovely!"

"Looks like Gail wants to adopt a few house elves," James pointed out, causing Peter to have a giggling fit.

"Oh, I wish! They're so cute," Gail continued to smile dreamily at the elves.

"You wouldn't say that if you met Kreacher," Sirius said darkly, sulking over a piece of bread. He started grumbling about burnt food and such.

Gail ignored his comments, settling herself in between Peter and Remus. The cute, female elf brought her some left over chicken, a few rolls, and a large piece of chocolate cake.

"Thank you-... ?" Gail realized that she hadn't asked the elf for a name. That was terribly rude of her.

"Oh, Miss wants to know my name!" The elf squeaked happily, "I'm called Flink!"

"I'm Gail," she responded, reaching a hand over to shake the elf's small, brown one. The elf looked positively enamoured by Gail.

"I'm sensing some love here..." Remus laughed, "and I'm beginning to feel a little jealous."

"Oh no," James jokingly prodded Sirius, "Remus wants to adopt a house elf, too."

"Hmph," Sirius grumbled, dragging some food around the plate with a fork.

By the time the five students had eaten, Gail had traded names with at least ten house elves, who all beamed up at her. The boys practically had to drag her out of the kitchen when they were leaving.

"Come back anytime, Miss Gail!" Flink cried happily, waving at the group of students. She beamed happily after seeing Gail's nod.

* * *

**Author Note:**

Double update today, since I've been a chapter ahead for a while. Don't say I don't spoil you!

Okay, I think I need to explain this family tree. For my purposes, we'll say that Molly Weasley's great Uncle had a daughter named Olive Prewett who married Devon Forester.

I'll upload the family tree to my photobucket; the link is on my profile.

So... What do you think? Who or what is Gail's father? I'll never tell, not yet at least. You have your hints!

Now for the _Deleted Scene_ and _Comment Gallery_!  
-Rue

* * *

_Deleted Scene:_ **Christmas Day**

"Wake up, Lily!" Jo grabbed Lily Evan's shoulder sharply, shaking the redhead until she sat up.

"Wassamatter?" Lily asked, squinting at her friend groggily.

"It's Christmas, Lily," Jo smiled cheerfully, "time to open presents!"

Lily groaned, she had forgotten that Jo was a fanatic for anything having to do with the jolly holiday. It took all of her willpower to get out of bed and trudge towards the bathroom. When she came back, Jo had already ripped open most of her presents and was eyeing Lily's pile.

"Don't even think about it," Lily scolded her, settling herself next to the tidy pile of gifts. Lily selected the one from her parents first and opened it to find a light green sweater. It had a small cloth animal sewn onto the front in a soft piece of material.

"Oh, nice sweater," Jo smiled, "open mine next."

Lily sighed, grabbing the medium sized box that Jo had handed her the previous day. Lily carefully removed the festive paper to reveal some products from Belladonna's Beauty that Lily had been interested in. Lily admired the box for a moment, before looking up at Jo. Although their relationship had been rocky for a while, Jo had still cared enough about her to buy such a thing.

"Thank you," Lily smiled gratefully.

"Mine was better," Jo held up her gift from Lily, "how did you get one of these? Every time I looked, the store was always sold out."

Lily laughed, "I had to wrestle it away from some boy..."

Lily turned her attention to the presents. She picked up the small box from Gail, gently removing the bow from the box, she gasped. In her hand was a lovely pin in the shape of a Lily. It had several rhinestones embedded in it. The small note in the box said that the flower would sing if the emerald stem was pressed.

"You got one, too?" Jo asked, her eyes focused on Lily's pin, "mine was a sunflower."

"Oh, it's so pretty," Lily grinned, pinning the singing Lily onto the green sweater her parents had given her.

Lily opened her presents from the other three girls, finding three new books to add to her collection of wizarding books.

"Lily, Joan, breakfast is ready," Lily's mother's voice floated up the stairs, "hurry down while it's still hot."

"Hurry, Lily," Jo grinned, "before ol' Tuney eats all of our pancakes!"

* * *

**The Comment Gallery**

_Host: Gail Forester__  
Special Guest: Amber Button_

Gail: Greetings everyone! I've just gotten out of the hospital wing. Welcome to The Comment Gallery. I hope you weren't too worried about me. With me today in Amber Button.

Amber: Hello!

Gail: This is a first, isn't it? This is the first time that an OC has come to talk in this section. So tell me, how far did you get on your date with Sirius Black?

Amber: All we did was talk. It was like he wouldn't stop talking about how horrible his parents were and how snobby his little brother was becoming.

Gail: So you didn't snog?

Amber: Oh, we snogged for a bit, he was fantastic, but he got bored and wanted to go to Zonkos.

-Amber stares dreamily-

Gail: Ahem. So we're reading off some reviews now. The first one is from Angel of Apathy. I agree, they can be really charismatic when they want to!

Amber: They'd do anything for a good joke.

Gail: Which includes forcing information out of their friends. Haha... Ha. On a side note, what did you do during Christmas, Amber?

Amber: I visited with family. Because I missed last year, when I stayed at Hogwarts, we had a huge celebration and ended up inviting a bunch of well-to-do wizarding families.

Gail: Sounds like fun. Did you get Lily and Jo to go?

Amber: Nope. What about you?

Gail: The marauders entertained me with quidditch, but I mostly kept to myself. I caught up on a bunch of reading.

Amber: Oh, our next review is from MaxRideRox. That's one huge review! I love it. So juicy.

Gail: I'll make sure the others get their fan mail.

Amber: You have to answer the question. REMUS OR SIRIUS?

Gail: W-what? Well, they're both, uh...

-Amber turns to 'the camera' like an anchor woman-

Amber: You're hearing it here. Who Gail prefers.

Gail: Hey, that's enough, Ams. You know I don't have romantic feelings for either of them.

Amber: But if you HAD to chose, who would get picked?

Gail: Probably Remus. I spend enough time with him that I feel comfortable with him.

Amber: But?

-Gail turns absolutely red in the face and freezes-

Amber: Darn, looks like she froze up, but don't worry. Sirius will always have me.

-Gail coughs-

Amber: Or Remus...

-Gail unfreezes-

Gail: That's it for today. I hope you enjoyed this girltalk. Ahaha... See you next time.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Day to day life had resumed after Christmas. The first day back of classes had been plagued by the pranks that the marauders had been saving up over the holidays. Everyone had been effected at some point. The problems spanned from being late because of flooded hallways to sporting strange hair colours. Some of the students from other houses had their robes charmed to glow red and gold. The will of the marauders to prank was strong, and pranks were still occurring all over the place near the end of January.

Gail almost wished that the marauders would pull something. History of magic was extremely dull. The elderly ghost instructor, Professor Binns, stood in front of the class. He was droning on about some rebellion, and therefore his students were not paying attention.

A flash out of the corner of Gail's eye caught her attention and brought her out of her day dream about riding a dragon. Turning her head, she saw James and Sirius both with grins on their faces. Peter was snickering quietly beside them. Before her eyes, the table in front of two Ravenclaws was transfigured into a hippopotamus-lion crossbreed. The _lippo_, as Gail would learn the marauders had named it, shook itself. It had a great, golden mane with a plump body. It yawned, showing extremely sharp teeth. It didn't move from its spot.

The Ravenclaws looks like they didn't know what to do, as if they were frozen. Lily, who was sitting next to Gail, looked furious. Professor Binns didn't even look up from his book, and neither did he take any notice of the new creature in his classroom. Amber and her two friends were laughing quite loudly at the hippo throughout the rest of the lecture.

Before the end of the class, the marauders transfigured the "lippo" back into a table. The Ravenclaws ran out of class quickly. Gail had assumed that anyone placed in Ravenclaw would have the ability to transfigure the hippo back into a table, but she was wrong.

Gail's amused look faded when she looked at Lily, who was fuming, "aw, c'mon Lily. It was one of their harmless jokes."

"Harmless?" Lily shot a look of daggers at Gail, but didn't say anything more. She stormed out of the class without a second glance back.

"How's your 'furry little problem,' Moony?" James laughed, elbowing Remus in the ribs gently.

"Oh, he's quite fine, aside from eating everything he can get his hands on," Remus responded jokingly.

Gail heard snippets of the marauder's conversation, but not enough to understand what they were talking about. She momentarily thought that Remus had some naughty pet. She decided to ask him about it in Astronomy if she could remember.

"Too bad that Lily's pride gets in the way of her sense of humour," Amber spoke from behind Gail, "double history is so boring without something entertaining."

"Mmm," Gail agreed as she finished packing her scarce notes into her bag. The rest of the Griffindor girls followed the marauders down the hall. They had a short break in between classes. Gail bid the others good bye and started towards the astronomy tower.

* * *

"I can't believe how much Potter and his friends strut around!" Lily complained, flopping on the side of Gail's bed. The redhead was wearing a soft green sweater over the top of her cucumber coloured night gown. She had been complaining to anyone who'd listen for the last few hours.

"Hey Gail," Jo called across the room in an attempt to change the subject, "how was your Christmas? I mean, you had to spend the whole vacation here by yourself. Did the marauders bug you?"

Five pairs of eyes focused on Gail, who just shrugged, "Christmas was fine. They seemed to stop acting like gits, for the most part. Probably because there wasn't anyone around to impress."

Amber seemed a little put out by the information, but there wasn't anything Gail could do about that. The others all started chattering about something or other. Gail was too busy looking at Lily, who was staring at the ground spitefully.

"They treated me well, Lily," Gail said quietly.

"Have you forgotten what they did to you?" Lily finally exploded, her face turning a dark shade of red, "have you forgotten that they locked you in a cupboard for a day? Have you forgotten how mean and nasty they were?"

"Lily-" Gail began, but she was cut off by Lily.

"Don't give me that! I won't forget!" Lily sniffed slightly, glaring at her friend through watery eyes.

"Lily, I promise I haven't forgotten," Gail said quietly, staring Lily earnestly in the eye. She ignored the curious stares of the other girls as she continued, "but being spiteful and vengeful towards them for the rest of my life is a waste, isn't it?"

Seeing Lily's small nod, Gail leapt up and grabbed a tissue for Lily, who took it and blew her nose liberally before handing it back to Gail. She swiftly placed the used tissue in the fire and rubbed her hand against her leg. The others pretended to be preoccupied with other things, but she knew they were listening.

"Just be careful, okay?" Lily asked Gail, now sitting up, "don't let them do that to you again."

"I won't Lily... Now, it's bedtime for all young Griffindors," Gail glanced at the girls, who grudgingly agreed, "good night."

Gail climbed into her bed, doing her best to ignore the worries about her father that haunted her dreams...

* * *

The next morning, Gail found a rather plump owl had stopped to deliver a letter to her. It hooted happily at her, allowing Gail to rub its head before she grabbed the letter. The owl seemed reluctant to leave after it had delivered the letter, so Gail rubbed the bird's head while she read it. She didn't recognize the writing, so she took her time reading it. There wasn't very much written.

_Ms. Forester,_

_Please come to my office again. You know where my it is. The password is Granola Bar. _

_Yours truly,  
Albus Dumbledore._

Gail looked a little stunned after reading the note. She quickly grabbed her bag and headed towards the headmaster's office. Her stomach was pinching nervously, but she was hopeful that Dumbledore had located her father.

A stone gargoyle blocked the entrance. Gail hadn't noticed it before, but it was wonderful. Gail admired it, stepping closer. Most people would have called the gargoyle ugly, but Gail thought it was quite attractive. She reached a hand out to trace a pattern on the gargoyle.

"Password?" The gargoyle asked quietly.

"Oh!" Gail was slightly shocked that the statue could talk. It shouldn't have shocked her, because the portraits could talk, too, "the password is granola bar?"

"Enter," the gargoyle spun, allowing Gail to enter the office.

Gail stared through the office, and didn't see the headmaster. She saw his phoenix, though. Timidly, she walked over to the magnificent bird. She gently reached out a hand and brushed Fawkes' head.

"I see you've taken to Fawkes," the serene voice of Dumbledore echoed from behind his desk, "but I'm afraid you'll be late for class if you play with animals all day."

Gail smiled sadly at the bird before moving to sit in front of the desk, "have you found my Papa, sir?"

Dumbledore looked most grave, and adamantly shook his head, "I'm afraid not. I haven't been able to scry any information from the items you've given me. I was wondering if you knew of any other family members?"

"My father said that my Grandfather was a wizard," Gail said, her stomach dropping slightly, "I don't know anything other than that."

"Then we have a problem, Miss Forester," Dumbledore's penetrating stare drilled into her, "because the last wizard with your last name in all of Europe did not have any children. I have gone through books of graduates from the different wizarding schools. There was only one Forester mentioned."

Gail stared down at the desk and mumbled, "Devon Forester."

"Yes, Miss Forester," she didn't see Dumbledore's wry smile, "so until we can find some proof about your father's existence, you will be staying with a nice wizarding family. They're a bit older, and their children have all graduated from Hogwarts, but they will make sure you're not lacking anything."

Gail nodded resolutely before standing up. She spoke rather moodily, but did her best not to sound rude, "anything else, sir?"

"Yes, please visit the hospital wing tonight. I would like Madam Pomfrey to check you out to make sure you're..." Dumbledore paused, as if he had to think about the word.

"Not crazy?" Gail laughed sarcastically, "it's beginning to look like it, isn't it?"

"Stranger things have happened. Miss Forester." Dumbledore meant that to soothe her, but it really didn't have the right effect. Gail would rather be crazy than have some weird things happening to her father, if he even existed in the first place.

Gail nodded again, and trudged out of the office. She didn't even stop to admire Fawkes or the gargoyle on her way out.

* * *

"You seem fine, physically," Madam Pomfrey concluded after an hour and a half of examining every inch of Gail, "but Dumbledore requested that you be given a special potion."

The matron of the infirmary handed her the largest potion bottle she had ever seen before. Gail stared at her as if she was losing her mind, "I have to drink all of this?"

"Yes," Madam Pomfrey gave the girl a hard stare, "it will repair your subconscious, your senses or anything else that might be wrong with that brain of yours."

Gail frowned at the jug of potion, hoping it tasted nice. Sucking in a breath, she took a swig of the potion. Pomfrey nodded at her, "drink it all. I will be back in a few moments to see how you're doing."

Gail made a face. The potion was vile. There seemed to be large chunks in the grey-green opaque potion. She was being forced to drink a jug of what looked like poison. At least if she died from the potion, she wouldn't have to bother with homework any longer, but she had so wanted to see a real dragon... At least once.

She did her best to just chug the potion. Madam Pomfrey walked by to see that she was still drinking it after a few minutes. The evil nurse gave a nod of satisfaction, seeing that Gail had downed a good third of it.

About three quarters of the way through the jug, Gail started imagining that she was drinking strawberry juice that had huge strawberries floating in it, just to get through the potion faster. The liquid really didn't taste like strawberries, though. It was a lot more like drinking dirty water that had drained off of some jock's clothes. When Gail had finally finished the concoction, she put the container down. Other than the uncomfortable feeling of the potion in her stomach, she felt fine.

"Very good, you may return to your own bed tonight, Forester," Madam Pomfrey nodded approvingly, "just make sure you don't sleep walk tonight."

"Why would I sleepwalk?" Gail asked jumping to her feet.

"It's a common side effect of the potion," Pomfrey told her, "now hurry along, I have others to look after tonight."

Gail nodded her head, and walked back to the Griffindor common room. As she reached the portrait of the fat lady, her head was beginning to feel a little different, as if a cloud had just been removed from her mind. The portraits seemed more vivid than she remembered them being. Gail felt that if she stared at the portraits too hard, though, they might unravel like a sweater.

"Password, dear?" The fat lady asked, "you're getting in a little late. At the hospital wing again?"

Gail nodded, "yeah. Blue flame."

The portrait swung open. Gail had begun to feel so drowsy that she didn't even notice the three boys standing in the common room. Sleepily, she shuffled her feet along the floor and up the stairs towards the girls dorms. When she entered the dormitory she shared with Lily and the other girls, she took no notice of the stares. She sleepily trudged towards her bed and threw herself onto it.

"Gail, what happened? You've been absent minded all day," Lily asked, sitting on the side of her bed, "and now you've come in so late. Is it because I got angry at you yesterday? I'm sorry."

Gail shook her head into her pillow, "given... potion by... Pomfrey... Very sleepy."

She could feel Lily's stare. The last thing she heard before falling asleep was, "at least change into your night gown. Oh heck, you're already asleep. Oh well."

* * *

The next thing Gail knew was a chilly, night time breeze on her face. Gently opening her eyes, she found herself standing next to the lake, barefoot. The light of the full moon hurt her eyes somewhat. The night seemed somewhat quiet. It took Gail a few minutes to register that she had walked out of the castle while sleep walking. It wasn't a dream.

The lake looked surreal. Gail couldn't tell if it was because of the potion or because of the full moon. She knew the lake was far more dangerous than it looked, because of the sinister squid hiding there. The giant tree next to the lake seemed to have a second shadow for a few seconds. Gail looked away, out of fear that it was just her mind playing tricks on her.

Gail looked over towards the whomping willow. It was oddly still. Usually, it would move quite a bit. There were three shapes moving along the bushes near the tree. She couldn't really make out what they were, but she didn't stare at them for very long. She heard a chilling howl moments after seeing the shapes.

Gail looked around for the source of the howling. By the time she had her wand out, there was a large, black dog barrelling towards her. Normally, she would have welcomed the presence of a creature, but something inside her mind told her that the dog wasn't there to 'play'. Its teeth were bared, and the fur on its back stood on end. Although the dog was intimidating, her senses were screaming that she was in danger, and not just from the dog.

The black dog stopped running toward her and stood absolutely still, with its ears pricked up. Gail took this chance and ran as fast as she could back towards the castle. A second howl sounded, remarkably closer than the first one. This caused Gail some anxiety as she pushed herself as fast as she could run.

She made it into the castle, and up the stairs when she heard a horrible yelping sound. Covering her ears, she ran up the first flight of stairs she found.

* * *

**Author Note:**

Thanks for reading chapter 13! I hope you enjoyed it. I bet you were thinking she would have a run in with a werewolf, right? No, but she saw "Snuffles".

We've hit chapter 13, which is my lucky number. Expect a special_ Comment Gallery_, okay?

On with the _Deleted_ _Scene_ and _Comment_ _Gallery_!

-Rue

* * *

_Deleted Scene: _**Yule Ball**

Gail was the belle of the ball. Literally. She had a line up of boys who wanted to dance with her. She scheduled that each dance should last for only one minute. She would also turn down the boys that were totally unattractive, like Peter Pettigrew. She looked way too good to dance with him. Her tawny hair had been tied up in a stylistic bun. Her face was caked in makeup.

Her dress hugged her form flatteringly. It was a simplistic black dress robe fashioned to look like a cocktail dress. The back of the dress had silvery patterns below her exposed back. The dress only went to her knees, exposing her sleek legs and high heeled shoes.

To her surprise, James Potter was the next person she was supposed to dance with. She could feel her cheeks heating up under the stare of his luscious hazel gaze. Without a word, he took her hand in his and lead her to the dance floor. When they arrived, he placed her other hand, on his forearm and draped his hand onto her waist.

"You love wonderful," James smiled down at her through his glasses, "I'm glad I waited to dance with you."

With that, James spun her, causing the skirt of her black dress to spin around her. He then pulled her in close. Gail could feel his hot breath on her ear. She allowed her head to rest on his shoulder as he pulled her as close as he could.

"Ah," James frowned, "it looks like our minute is over, my lovely Abigail."

As he turned to leave, Gail grabbed the sleeve of his stylish dress robes, "please... Stay with me James."

James looked back over his shoulder, the light catching in his glasses. He spoke slowly, "I'm sorry, Gail, you know I can't do that. It's Sirius' turn."

Gail could have sobbed in frustration. Instead, she held her head high for the rest of the night, and continued dancing until her feet were sore. At the end of the night, she slipped her feet out of the high heels and noted that they were turning brown and green, the shades of a bruise.

She threw herself into bed, crying over the man that she would never be able to love completely.

* * *

**The Comment Gallery  
**_Host: Remus Lupin  
Special Guest: James Potter_

Remus: H-hello. You're reading the Comment Gallery. I'll be your host today, because Gail has come down with a sore throat.

James: Geez, Moony, take that stick out of your butt, you're only talking with me today. At least use our nicknames.

Moony: You're right, sorry Prongs.

Prongs: No problem-o. Now you're supposed to ask me a question that the reviewers might like to hear.

Moony: Well, uhm... Why don't we explain how animagus work, and how to become one? That would be a treat, right?

Prongs: Moony, if you say that, people might get suspicious about us... Why don't we talk about boggarts?

Moony: Splendid idea. Well, I think everyone knows that mine is a full moon. I wish I could pop the real thing like a balloon. What's yours, Prongs?

Prongs: I'm not scared of anything.

-James grins cheekily-

Moony: Sure you do. I think we all know what your worst fear is... It's-

Prongs: Fine. My worst fear is to see Evans and Snape snogging. This doesn't leave here, got it?

-Remus nods-

Moony: So how do you deal with your boggart?

Prongs: I hex Snape into a million pieces and steal the girl...

-Remus looks unbelieving-

Prongs: Fine. I change Snape's clothes to look like my grandmother's. She wears a huge red hat everywhere. This causes the fake Lily to laugh and... Well, you get the picture.

Moony: Yeah, I think we get the picture. That story sounds awfully familiar. Anyway, what about Padfoot and Wormtail.

Prongs: Wormtail's worst fear is a snake – which he imagines getting tied in a bow. Padfoot's bogart is... I'm not overly sure. It looks a bit like a cage.

Moony: I think he's scared of being stuck in one place too long.

Prongs: You're probably right... Hey, aren't we supposed to be reading reviews?

Moony: Yeah, here's our first. It's from _MaxRideRox_.

-James grins-

Prongs: Gail likes Padfoot? Oooh~

Moony: Apparently. Lots of girls like how handsome he is.

Prongs: Don't feel too bad, mate! You'll always have me.

Moony: Yeah, because that makes me feel better.

-James clears his throat-

Prongs: Okay, the next review is from Angel of Apathy.

Moony: Quidditch was fun, wasn't it? I wasn't feeling too great that day, though.

Prongs: Yeah, it was too soon after a full moon.

Moony: I think that's all the time we have.

Prongs: So much for a special edition of comment gallery. I want to interview Lily.

-Remus sighs-

Moony: Send your reviews in, folks. The next Comment Gallery will have really special guests.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Exams were approaching, and Gail's stomach felt like it was doing the tango. What made things worse was the fact that she was behind in at least three classes. Gail didn't have time to worry about anything other than her classes. She was having Lily tutor her in Potions and History of Magic. She had to pull up all of her courage to get someone to help her in Defence Against the Dark Arts.

"Remus?" Gail asked after Astronomy. She paused, unsure of how to approach such a thing.

"What is it?" Remus stopped packing away his notes for a moment, and was staring at her with a patient look in his eyes.

"I'm behind in Defence Against the Dark Arts," Gail couldn't imagine a nicer way of saying it. She had eased off the bluntness, "I was wondering if you'd help me study."

She wasn't quite saying 'I'm a moron in this class, can you help me?' But it was close enough. Remus chuckled and offered a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

"Sure, it'd be nice to have someone to study with for once," Remus smiled thoughtfully, "we could start tonight, if you wanted."

Gail nodded thankfully, "that would be great."

"Is there anything you're having problems with?" Remus asked, slinging a bag over his shoulder. He walked alongside her, guiding her down the hall.

"I..." Gail looked a little reproachful. She hadn't had huge problems in the class before, "I can't fight boggarts, Remus. I don't understand what it turns into."

"You don't understand your own fears?" Remus stared at her, puzzlement written on his face.

"Well," Gail's dark brown eyes gazed at the ceiling, "I don't understand how to make it ridiculous."

"I get it," Remus smiled gently, "so let's find a boggart to practice on, for now."

Gail nodded, walking past a door with heavy inscriptions. She abruptly stopped, feeling Remus' hand closed around her wrist as he pulled her through the large door.

"In here," Remus said quietly.

Gail hadn't been in a room like this before. The room looked quite empty, except for the wardrobe that was shaking violently.

"What is this?" Gail asked staring around the room. Several pictures hung on the walls, depicting several hexes, counter-jinx and the like. She slowly turned to Remus, "how did you know there was a boggart here?"

"Ah, well," Remus went slightly pink in the face, "I didn't. I just thought it looked like a good room."

Gail shifted slightly, staring at the slightly embarrassed face of Remus Lupin. He knew more than he was telling, but she decided to let it go. Instead she turned to the wardrobe that had settled down a little bit.

"Shall I open it?" Remus asked calmly, moving towards it, "and if you can't banish the boggart, I'll help."

Gail nodded and pulled out her wand. Remus, seeing that she was ready, pulled open a door of the wardrobe. It took a few seconds for the boggart to emerge and take form. Gail was staring at herself in a full length mirror. The silver mirror had silver detailing on the frame, not that Gail had bothered looking at it. She was too focused on what she saw in the mirror.

"Riddikulus!" Gail said weakly. The mirror didn't even move. The image Gail saw in the mirror moved slightly, and it began to pull itself out of the mirror. The creature appeared to pull its head out of the mirror by holding onto the silver frame. The fake-Gail had nothing more than a black hole where its face should have been.

Gail's legs were shaking as the Fake-Gail reached out to her, but she stood fast, "r-riddikulus!"

Her spell still had no effect. Gail felt Remus brush in front of her. The boggart snapped, revealing a silvery globe that looked rather like a crystal ball. Gail temporarily wondered if Remus was afraid of having his fortune told, and therefore didn't take Divination. With a calm flick of his wand, the crystal ball turned into a 'farting' cockroach. The boggart scurried back into the wardrobe, closing the door behind itself.

"Wow, Remus! That was great!" Gail gaped at him after having a hearty laugh at the farting cockroach, "to be able to deal with a boggart already!"

Remus looked at her over his shoulder, offering a slight smile, "well, you know I am the best."

The two shared a laugh, before Remus turned back to the topic at hand, "so you're afraid of yourself. Do you have some power that you can't control?"

Gail shook her head, causing her tawny hair to flutter slightly, "no, I've never been worried about that."

"Then," Remus deduced, "are you scared of losing your identity?"

Gail opened her mouth to protest for a second, but it hit her. If that wasn't what she was scared about, then why had she been so worried about finding her Grandfather in some of the books in the library. Remus was likely right. She was so upset by the boggart because it meant that she was a faceless person, with no real identity.

Gail nodded solemnly, "I think you're right, Remus, but I don't know how to make that funny. I can't..."

"Do you know what saran wrap is?" Remus asked calmly, seeing her nod, "use it to make sure your reflection can't get out."

"That's not funny at all, Remus," Gail frowned at him.

"Oh sure," Remus rolled his eyes, "it's only funny when Sirius puts the stuff on a public toilet."

"He did?" Gail asked, her jaw relaxing.

"Yes, both Padfoot and Prongs thought it was hilarious after hearing about it on the muggle news. They tried it in both girl and boy public bathrooms," Remus smiled fondly at the memory.

"Well, I guess I can try it," Gail frowned slightly holding up her wand again. Remus opened the door, letting the boggart out.

The mirror formed again. The smooth surface of the mirror seemed to shudder, and the fake Gail appeared. Its face was still completely black. Gail gulped, before calling out, "riddikulus."

The fake-Gail attempted to leave the mirror, but an invisible film prevented it from doing so. The fake's face was completely squished, its features finally appearing. Gail examined the face for a moment, and began laughing quite loudly. The fake Gail's features were finally visible, and were more pronounced and had been enlarged quite a bit.

Remus chuckled too, watching the boggart flee back into the wardrobe, "well done, Gail!"

"It's because of you, Remus!" Gail beamed, shoving her wand into her pocket. Within a second, she had grabbed Remus, forcing him into a hug. He stiffly returned the hug for a moment, before pushing her away. He looked very embarrassed because of being praised.

"Remus, you should work as a Professor when you graduate. You're way better than Professor Kinert and the others we had before him," Gail prodded him in the side. Remus seemed to be ignoring her suggestion, she noted with a bit of annoyance.

"Now that we've finished that, would you like to accompany me to the kitchens?" Remus opened the door of the room and holding it while Gail exited the room.

"Alright," Gail agreed, "I haven't seen Flink in a while. It'd be nice to see her."

"Did you finish the paper that Slughorn assigned?" Remus asked, his light brown eyes fixed on the hallway in front of him.

Gail frowned, "yes, Lily forced me to. I don't understand how she deals with being a member of the Slug Club. Professor Slughorn is so..."

"Creepy?" Remus offered, a faint smile on his face, "James and Sirius have turned down their invitations to the club."

"You didn't receive one?" Gail asked.

"Not until third year, when he heard from the other Professors that I was a good student," Remus replied pleasantly, "by that time, I knew enough not to get tangled up in Sluggy's Club."

Gail snorted, walking up to the fruit portrait and tickling the pear. She swung the door open and stepped through. Almost instantly, Flink greeted her, and Gail hugged the little elf.

"You two have become close," Remus remarked as he watched Flink hurry about to get some food.

"Mmhmm," Gail nodded, "jealous? She _is_ very cute. I could set you up on a date with her."

Remus snorted, and rolled his eyes before settling himself at one of the empty tables. Food appeared around him, and he selectively chose which to place neatly on his plate. Gail sat next to him and helped herself to some boiled potatoes and ham. When Remus wasn't looking, she stole a roll off his plate. They ate in general silence.

Gail picked up their plates when both of them were finished. She walked over to a sink full of dish water and plopped them in. The house elves looked shocked when she washed the two plates.

"Miss Gail!" Flink gasped, "what are you doing?"

"It's not fair that we dirtied two plates after all of you had finished cleaning. This was the least I could do," Gail flashed a smile over at Remus, "you there, Mister Moony. Your turn to dry."

"Yes Ma'am," Remus laughed. He dried the two plates quickly with his wand before handing them to Flink, who still looked astonished.

"Thanks for the meal, Flinkies," Gail said, "we have to get back to the dormitories. It's a tad bit late."

"Oh, all right," Flink looked sad for a moment, "but you'll come back soon for a longer visit, right?"

"You betcha! I'll come back before exams start," Gail agreed as she left through the portrait.

"You're one of the few people I've ever met that treat house elves like... humans," Remus commented. She sensed a note of approval in his voice.

"I can't help it, I get sentimental really easily," Gail chuckled to herself, checking over her shoulder for signs of Mrs. Norris or Argus Filch.

* * *

It was a Friday morning, during one of her spare periods, in which Gail usually helped Kettleburn. She spent most of her time helping the third years during that time slot, or she feeding the creatures. Today was different, though. The sun was shining brightly, and the air around the school had warmed up. She had decided it was a nice day to go for a stroll.

Until she bumped into Sirius Black. Literally. She dropped her bag, and heard a crack.

"Damn, broke a bottle of ink. I knew I should have had Lily charm it," Gail bent down, examining her bag. For the most part, she ignored the laughter of one annoying marauder. One side of her bag had a huge ink blot seeping through. Almost all of the papers she had in her bag were soaked in the black liquid. It was a good thing she took Lily's advice and didn't carry around her notes or textbooks. Gail quickly mended the ink bottle and cleaned the ink with a swish of her wand. When she finished cleaning up, she noted Sirius staring at her with a curious expression.

"What?" Gail snapped, "you couldn't lend a hand, could you Black?"

"Ah, sorry," Sirius grinned cheekily, she knew he didn't mean his apology, "that's the first time I've ever seen someone spend so much time cleaning up a mess. Muggleborns sure are different."

"Well, yeah," Gail frowned down at her bag, "when you've grown up doing things manually... Tch, it stained."

Gail continued walking, noting that Sirius was trailing along beside her. He was rather quiet when he wasn't with James. It must have been a quidditch day, and Sirius had become bored of watching the Griffindor team practice.

"You sure wander around a lot," Sirius muttered. He sounded quite annoyed by the piece of information.

"Not really," Gail said calmly, not even looking at Sirius, "I usually have a reason for walking somewhere. I mean, there was that time that I walked all the way to the lake in the middle of the lake, but that was because of a potion. I usually don't even sleep walk."

"A potion, huh?" Sirius eyed her, grumbling. His annoyance seemed to disperse though. He eventually spoke up again, when they were outside, "where are we going?"

"I'm leading you to a place where they won't find your body," Gail snickered at her own joke, but Sirius didn't seem to like the joke very much, "can't a girl stroll around? I was thinking about finding a nice tree to sit under."

"I know where there's a nice tree," Sirius grabbed her hand and pulled her along, towards his favourite tree. It was a giant, normal willow tree. It's trunk was covered in rough bark, and Gail was sure she couldn't wrap her arms all the way around it.

Sirius plopped himself down next to the tree, pulling Gail with him. He grinned quite sweetly at her, before turning his stormy grey eyes to the lake. He didn't say anything else, so Gail amused herself by playing with the straps on her bag. She wished Remus or Peter were around, then she would be able to make conversation. Gail couldn't understand why it was harder to start a conversation with Sirius.

"Do you like me?" Sirius finally asked, glancing over at her. Her dark brown eyes expanded in shock.

"Sure, I like you," Gail conceded, not really catching his meaning.

"Really?" Sirius asked, playfully leaning closer.

"Yep. You're not as bad as I thought- om..." Gail found herself in a very awkward position. She really didn't know what she was supposed to do.

Was Sirius Black really kissing her, or was she dreaming?

She didn't pull back, but neither did she respond. Sirius eventually got frustrated, and backed off. He gave her such a haughty look that she didn't even know what to say. He had just taken her first kiss, and he had the gull to be annoyed with her?

"Gail?" A voice questioned from about ten feet away, "you're going out with Sirius?"

Gail turned and saw Amber and the other blondes, who looked completely floored. Amber didn't appear to be annoyed, but Gail knew that she could have been angry. Gail immediately shook her head, not really understanding what had just occurred.

"Sure you are," Avalon spoke up, "we saw you two snogging."

"We're not dating," Gail stood up, feeling tremulous emotions ebbing in her. She hadn't been this upset in a while.

"Yes we are," Sirius said, standing up beside her. He grabbed her hand somewhat possessively and lacing his fingers with hers.

* * *

**Author Note:**

Oho! I was so excited while writing this. I was practically rubbing my hands together and cackling with glee. Are they dating? Will it happen? Will it work out? Ahahaha!

I won't be able to update over the weekend. I'm going to be out of town. I'll do my best to update on Sunday, when I get back.

Onto the _Deleted Scene_ and _The Comment Gallery_.  
-Rue

* * *

_Deleted Scene:_ **Professor Kinert**

"DARK MAGIC IS EVERYWHERE! It is in everything!" Professor Kinert practically shouted at his class, glaring darkly at each and every one of them.

"So that's why the soup last night tasted off," James muttered to Sirius, "it had a pinch too much of the dark arts in it."

Sirius snorted, laughing under his breath, "think they put Snivellus' shorts in the soup?"

"Only way they could make the broth dark enough," James retorted, grinning. Kinert didn't even notice the two of them joking about the class.

"That's why you must practice," Kinert raved, shaking his fist at the class to get the point across, "practice practice PRACTICE! Practice until your wand runs dry of magic!"

"Sir?" Lily Evans' hand was up, and she was patiently waiting to be called on.

"Yes, Miss Evans?" Kinert shot a steely look at her, probably for disrupting his class.

"What about spells that we can't practice against?" Lily asked, somewhat shakily, "like the unforgivables? We could practice stunning spells until we're blue in the face, but it won't protect us from an unforgivable."

"You have a point, EVANS!" Kinert was suddenly on his table, standing tall and whipping his wand around, "that's why we will be practising avoiding spells! Your second best defence is to keep moving, and hope that your attacker's aim is off!"

The class found themselves in a sparse room, their desks had vanished along with everything else. The inside of the class took the look of the outdoors. There were trees, hills, mud pits, and the like.

"Now, get into groups of two and practise evasion," Kinert snapped, "if you can cast a shield spell or hex while running, all the better for you!"

"Nice going, Evans," several of the Hufflepuffs hissed at the redhead, "now we have to run around! Ugh."

James and Sirius seemed to make a game of the assignment, somewhat like tag, but with spells. One would be "it" until he could land a hit on the other.

"I hit you!" Sirius called, laughing as James flopped to the floor, "finite!"

James stood up, wiping himself off before dashing after Sirius, who had run off and was tossing hexes over his shoulder 'innocently' until James hit him with a full body bind.

"EVADE!" Kinert shouted, his face turning purple, "this isn't a game, Black! You would have died in a real situation!"

Sirius rolled his eyes after James had removed the spell from him. His haughty gaze slid from the professor the James. He muttered darkly, "I'll never need to know this, so why bother?"

Kinert had already moved on to his next target, thought, shouting, "BUTTON, you're supposed to EVADE the spell Forester is using, not jump into it!"

"Don't worry about it, mate," James said in a low voice, "running is for those that are too scared to duel. Not like us, right?"

Gail, who was running by James and Sirius and had seen that they weren't participating, pointed her wand over at them. She hit James with a jelly legs jinx. Laughing, she sped off, darting behind a tree. Sirius quickly removed the hex from James. Within a second, the two boys were chasing her, throwing hexes as fast as they could.

"WONDERFUL FORESTER!" Kinert shouted as she ran by him. He found himself hit with two or three hexes that had been aimed at Gail as she jumped behind the professor.

Needless to say, James, Sirius and Gail had a detention for hexing a professor or, in Gail's case, causing her professor to be hexed.

"You're good at running," James commented airily during the detention.

"Yeah, you would have been a great Slytherin!" Sirius remarked sarcastically, receiving a gentle swat on the back of his heard from Gail.

"I'm bad at dueling," Gail remarked, "my conscience gets in the way too much. So it's a good thing that I'm good at running."

Sirius smirked for a moment before turning to her, "you must be tired."

Gail tilted her head to the side, "why?"

"Because you've been running through my head all day," Sirius murmured, winking at her. He immediately had an offended look when Gail mimicked vomiting to James, who snickered.

* * *

**The Comment Gallery**

_Host: Gail Forester_

_Special Guest: Time-Turner-Kids (__**TTK**__) Harry, Ron, Hermione_

Gail: Greetings! Welcome to a very special edition of The Comment Gallery! With us today, we have three guests from the magical LAND OF THE FUTURE! The TTK!

Ron: Honestly! Why do we have such a lame group name?

Hermione: Ron! We decided that it was the best out of the bunch.

-Harry grins at his two friends, but doesn't say anything-

Gail: Is there anything you three would like to say to the readers before we start reading reviews?

Ron: Blimey, I feel sort of famous.

Hermione: I'm giving out S.P.E.W. badges.

Gail: What does that stand for, _Hermy_?

-The nickname is ignored-

Hermione: Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare.

Gail: Really? I want one! House elves are so cute.

Hermione: Two sickles to join.

-Gail hands her the money, and Hermione hands her a badge-

Ron: Oh no, not another one!

-The two girls are avidly talking about elvish rights, and totally ignore the show-

Harry: Well, there's an owl here with a letter from Lily. It reads: '_Dear MaxRideRox,_

-Harry pauses, scanning the note, he smiles fondly-

Harry: _Thank you for the fan mail. Gail just gave it to me. I would like to make it clear that I am way too cool to date Potter, estimating from your response. Therefore, I would like to conclude that I would rather date the whomping willow. Sincerely, Mad-Redhead.'_

Ron: Ouch, that was a harsh refusal, let's hope this- er- "Potter" fellow isn't reading this... Oh look, another owl.

-Ron talks the letter from the owl and reads it out loud-

Ron: '_Dear MaxRideRox, it appears that you think that Evans should be dating me. I agree with you, and thank you for your sentiment. Perhaps if things don't work out with us, you'd like to go on a date sometime? Uh, or I could get you a date with Padfoot. He was so happy about your review that he framed it. Siriusly._'

-Ron can't stop laughing, so Harry grabs the letter-

Harry: '_Best wishes, Messier Prongs._'

Ron: Blimey, what's all this about?

Harry: No idea, mate, no idea. Let's read another letter.

Gail: Oye, you two. You weren't supposed to read the letter from Lil-er Mad-Redhead. You're just supposed to comment on it.

-Ron shrugs-

Harry: Oh, this review is from _MaxRideRox_. I think the author was so happy to be writing chapters 13 and 14 that she forgot all about your wonderful fanmail. -ahem-

Ron: She's forgetful like that. Don't worry about it, though. We'll send her some howlers if she forgets again.

Gail: We usually only have two reviews per chapter. I wonder why. Does the Comment Gallery freak people out? All you have to do is say "don't mention me in the comments" and I won't say a word about it, ya know.

Hermione: People really do like Sirius and Remus, don't they. Erm... Who wants to buy a S.P.E.W. badge that's been signed by Sirius or Lupin?

Harry: Moldy-Voldy! That's great. My favourites are "fold-my-warts" and "u-no-poo".

Gail: We have some other reviews, too. Thanks for the reviews, _Rapunzel27_! Professor Kettleburn is my favourite.

Ron: Is he any better than Hag-ergh!

-Hermione elbowed Ron in the stomach-

Gail: Yes, Sirius didn't care about the scars he gave me, but that's just how he is. He can be really narrow sighted in terms of anything that isn't related to him. In any case, the author's planned ending is still quite far away. Hopefully everyone will continue to read about me until the very end.

-Gail smiles shyly-

Harry: There are also two reviews from _Fred-Weasley-Isn't-Dead_.

-Ron is touched by the name-

Hermione: It makes sense, though, right? Lup-I mean, our third year D.A.D.A professor taught Neville what to do to banish the boggart-Snape.

Harry: Boggart-Snape sure must love women's clothes. Thank you, though. I would rather be known as_ Mini James_ than _Baby Prongs_.

-Hermione elbows Harry in the stomach and laughs nervously-

Gail: Who's Tonks? You can't mean Ted Tonks, right?

-Ron, Hermione and Harry look nervously-

Gail: Another bunch of reviews are from _Collylocks_! Rosier is an actual character in the original books, I agree that he's a creepy jerk. I wish I had hexed him into oblivion.

Hermione: Snow White and the Seven Dwarves was based on the fairy tale by the Grimm Brothers about two girls named Snow White and Rose Red. The author basically reworded and cleaned up the version she found. In some other versions, the bear isn't a prince and it doesn't have any connections to the girls except when it eats the dwarf... [memorized off of wikipedia]...

Ron: Oh boy.

Harry: Gail, your dad is a Horcrux?

Gail: I'm not sure. Can horcruxs just disappear out of no-where?

-Obviously, she doesn't know what a horcrux is-

Ron: Our last review is from _Angel of Apathy_.

Gail: Oh, I just _love_ rabbits.

-Gail smiles dreamily-

Harry: Erm- It looks like it's time for us to go. C'mon Ron, _Hermy_.

Gail: That's all the time we've got. Thank you for c-... where did they go? Wow, totally gone... I'm... not looney.

-Gail shuffles away-


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

"We're not dating," Gail stood up, feeling tremulous emotions ebbing in her. She hadn't been this upset in a while.

"Yes we are," Sirius said, standing up beside her. He grabbed her hand somewhat possessively and lacing his fingers with hers.

"See?" Avalon said smartly, a knowing look on her face. At that, Gail tried to tug her hand free from Sirius' grip, but he held on.

"Congratulations, Gail," Amber's forced smile was too much, Gail wanted to shout at them that she wasn't dating Sirius Black. She had no intention of going out with such a child. It would be like babysitting a six year old ALL DAY LONG. If he wasn't bored, he was causing problems. Gail didn't have it in her to date him. What were they thinking?

"That's enough," Gail said quietly, her voice shaking very little, "just because someone kisses someone else, they are not instantly a couple. I have no attraction to – FOR MERLIN'S SAKE BLACK, LET MY HAND GO."

Gail never yelled. It felt strange to her, and apparently, it shocked the others as well. Amber and Avalon looked completely stunned. She had never raised her voice in front of them before. Sirius had been so floored that he immediately dropped her hand like it had burned him.

"You have the order wrong, Sirius Black," Gail scolded him more quietly, her temper had already died down. Sirius looked rather like a young boy who had his hand stuck in the cookie jar, "you're supposed to ask a girl to go out with you before trying to snog her."

"But you said-" Sirius mumbled, scuffing the ground with his toe.

"What? That I thought you were a decent person, behind the layers of big-headed attitude?" Gail questioned softly, "I didn't think you would take that the wrong way..."

"Fine," Sirius stared directly at her with his stormy grey eyes, "go out on a date with me?"

"Fine," Gail agreed, "see? That wasn't so hard, was it?"

"No," Sirius' hand twitched slightly, and he looked more than a little bit annoyed at Gail, "tomorrow?"

"Yes, I'll meet you by the gate around eleven?" Gail asked, reproachfully.

"Alright," Sirius agreed, before pointing over his shoulder, "I told Prongs I'd meet him. I'd better go."

With that, Sirius took off quickly. Gail suddenly wondered why she had said yes to him. He had looked rather pitiful for a moment, but he was already back to normal. He even launched a few hexes at people who got in his way, especially Slytherins.

"Are you fine with this, Amber?" Gail asked the blonde, staring at her. Amber flinched and nodded sporadically. The dusky haired girl didn't really believe it, "really?"

Amber shrugged, "I'm a little jealous that he asked you, but I have Jeremy. His family is loaded... not that it- uh- matters to me, or anything."

Avalon laughed at this, "little liar. Your fondest dream is to be a rich witch and never lift a hand again."

"Arm candy," Gail joked, finally causing Amber to laugh.

"Well, good luck on your date," Amber finally conceded, "he's so hard to keep entertained."

"I'll just have to take something for him to do," Gail nodded to herself, "like a magna-doodle."

* * *

Gail arrived at the gate a few minutes early. She hadn't bothered wearing makeup or spending hours curling her hair, like Amber had. She figured the less effort she made for the 'date' the less she would be embarrassed if Sirius had been pulling her leg and stood her up completely. But he showed up on time, much to Gail's surprise. James, Remus and Peter were with him, but he told them to get lost before he approached her. Remus tossed her a faint smile, giving her a thumbs up.

"Where do you want to go first?" Sirius asked her, walking next to her as they passed through the gate.

"How about the Shrieking Shack?" Gail asked hopefully. Seeing Sirius' questioning look, she rushed to her explanation, "I've never been there before."

"Oh?" Sirius smirked at her, "girls usually just want to snog there."

"Pass," Gail vetoed that idea.

Sirius grabbed her hand, pulling her through a group of third years. Gail noted that she hadn't seen James and the other marauders since they went through the gate. It was as if they had vanished. Sirius pulled her along, all the way to the shack's fence. He was just like a puppy, carrying around his new toy.

"Oh," Gail remarked disappointingly, "we can't go into it."

"You're bonkers," Sirius laughed, "it's supposed to be a really haunted house, and you want to go INTO it?"

Gail stared over her shoulder at him, frowning, "Hogwarts is haunted, too. You've seen the ghosts. They aren't all that scary. I bet it's not ghosts in the shack, either."

"You think?" Sirius was standing really close to her, staring down at her with grey eyes. She hadn't notice him until he let go of her hand.

"Mmhmm! There are plenty of other creatures that could have taken over a deserted house," Gail smiled cheerfully, her eyes fixed on the house, "I bet it's really dusty in there. Could be perfect for a doxies or..."

Gail noticed a few rocks hovering in the air on the other side of the fence. The rocks seemed to shake in the air for a moment before flying over Gail's head. The rocks missed Sirius by inches and ricocheted off a tree.

"Ooooooh~!" A ghostly moan floated from the location the rocks had been hovering. Gail felt her stomach leap. She looked over at Sirius, who looked perfectly calm and it hit her.

James Potter had disappeared in Hogsmeade. Gail quickly picked up a few of the stones lying on the ground before tossing them in the general area where the rocks had been hovering, she waited.

And heard a quiet "ouch." One of the stones his an invisible barrier and dropped to the ground.

"How strange," Gail turned to Sirius, "that the ghost sounds like Peter. Does James, by any chance, have one of those invisibility cloaks from Zonkos?"

"Looks like you caught them," Sirius remarked, "they're not very scary ghosts, are they?"

Gail's stomach jumped again when three floating heads appeared.

"We couldn't resist," James smiled cheekily, "sometimes we scare third years."

Sirius sniffed indignantly, "well, if you'll excuse us now, Messier Ghosts, we are on a date. Where to next, Gail?"

"Er-" Gail hadn't thought that far. She had somewhat hoped that Sirius would have blown her off by now, but he still didn't look very bored, "show me around Zonkos?"

"A girl after my heart," Sirius smiled thoughtfully, leading the dusky haired girl down the road and into the shop. He guided her into the joke items. Lily had been too wary of the place to give her a really good overview of the items.

"Dungbombs, oh! Some Hiccup Sweets," Sirius grabbed a few, tossing Gail a wink. She was more interested in the trick items. Diaries that squirted a person with ink if they were opened wrong, tissues that made a person's nose various colours... It was fantastic. Gail found a squeaky mouse that wriggled like the real thing. She decided to buy it, thinking it would be fun to give to Mati.

She finished paying for the mouse and turned to see Sirius staring at her curiously. He leaned over to peak in her bag while he asked, "whatcha buy?"

"A fake mouse for my cat," Gail chuckled, opening her bag wider for Sirius to see. He looked a little green for a moment, "what? You don't like mice?"

"Don't fancy them, to tell you the truth," Sirius replied, "I never liked rodents much."

"And yet you were nice enough to carry Peter's rat upstairs for him," Gail smiled at him, noticing the corner of his mouth twitching upwards.

There was an awkward pause for a moment in which Gail didn't know what to say. Both of them had a bag from Zonkos, and they walked quietly for a while, until Sirius muttered something about 'buying some chocolates for Remus'. He steered them into Honeydukes.

"What kind of chocolate?" Gail asked Sirius, though she doubted he could hear her. The store was almost as loud at the Three Broomsticks. She assumed this was because it was the last Hogsmeade weekend before exams.

A group of students managed to push their way in between Sirius and Gail to get at the Pep-me-up-pops. Gail shrugged, and turned to go the other way. She found her attention focused on the animal candies. She passed over Berti's Every Flavoured Beans, she always had a knack of getting flavours like "vomit" or "snot". She picked up another box of Ice Mice, her favourites, before looking down and seeing some giant, heart shaped mints. She got a small bag of those, too. After she was finished paying for the candies, she found Sirius glowering at her. Gail really couldn't understand why, though. He had been in a good mood for most of the morning.

"Whatcha get?" Sirius continued to glare at her as they exited the store.

"Hmm... Just some Ice Mice. Did you get the chocolate for Remus?" Gail noted his sulky nod. She quickly dug into the small bag of mints and extracted one, "here, this if for you."

Sirius stared at the mint for a moment, before laughing at her. He took the mint and carefully put it in his pocket, "thanks."

"You're supposed to eat it, not hoard it," Gail remarked, wondering why he had chosen not to eat it.

"Can't," Sirius grinned ecstatically, "have to save the first gift my girlfriend gives me."

"What?" Gail wondered when she had gained 'girlfriend' status. It must have been one of those _teenager_ things. She decided not to push it, she would rather see Sirius jovial than moody.

"Look who we have here. Bella, your cousin is on a date with a mudblood."

"Oh?" Bellatrix's voice resonated dangerously, "he always was the biggest outcast in our family. What a..."

Before she could even finish, Sirius had whipped his wand out. The full body bind his her in the face before she could even get her wand out. Shouts of panic echoed through the students. Soon, the only ones left on the small road were the Slytherins, Sirius and Gail. She had pulled out her wand, just in case the Slytherins decided to try anything.

"What is the meaning of this?" A male voice shouted. Slughorn came waddling up to the two students, "taken to hexing students in Hogsmeade, Mr. Black? Just wait until the head of your house hears about this. You too, girl, don't think you can sneak out of this."

Gail grudgingly put her wand back in her pocket, but Sirius was glaring daggers at ol' Sluggy. The plump walrus of a man quickly removed the hex from Bellatrix, crowing about how 'dare some Griffindor viciously attack a law-abiding Slytherin.'

"Carry on, all of you," Slughorn commanded the Slytherins, who walked off rather slowly. No doubt they wanted to see Sirius and Gail get punished.

"I will leave your punishments to the head of your house," Slughorn stared down his ugly nose at the two before muttering about how Sirius should have been in his house with the rest of his family. Sirius looked ready to kill the man after he had, apparently, heard Slughorn's comment.

"Hurry up," Slughorn commanded, "I'm going to deliver both of you straight to Minerva."

* * *

Minerva McGonagall hadn't gone easy on them, in any account. Sirius had his Hogsmeade privileges revoked for the next year, and Gail had been let off with a warning, because she hadn't fired any spells. Gail wondered why Sirius didn't have any detentions.

"The Professors are too busy grading things at this time of the year," Sirius explained to her as they walked back to the common room, "and McGonagall expects me to be too busy _studying_."

Gail snorted, "you've never studied for anything in your life."

"You know me so well!" Sirius chuckled, promptly taking her hand, "so? How did you find your first date with me?"

"Hmm," Gail pondered for a moment, "more exciting than normal."

"And?" Sirius pouted at her, using his grey eyes to his full advantage.

"And I had fun?" Gail ignored the 'cutesy' face he was putting on.

"Gonna go on another date with me soon?" Sirius asked excitedly, blowing some air at her face playfully.

"Sirius, you can't even go to Hogsmeade for a year," Gail stared at him, "where do you plan on taking me? It's almost summer time..."

"I have my ways," Sirius laughed sarcastically, "my parents couldn't stop be from being 'lawless,' even if they tried. Gumdrops."

The fat lady's portrait swung open, revealing a mostly empty common room. Students were still enjoying their time at Hogsmeade. Sirius stopped walking halfway to the stairs, and turned to her. He looked like he was expecting something for being a "good boy" all day. Gail thought about it for a moment, before shaking the idea off. She most definitely would not kiss Sirius after just one date. She still wasn't very sure about how she felt, and not to mention... Lily would give her hell for dating one of the marauders.

It didn't register to Gail that she had stopped in front of Sirius for too long. It had also slipped her mind that he moved faster than most other boys. Their mouths connected before she could even close her eyes. A warm, gentle feeling slid across her. Sirius seemed to be putting his "all" into the kiss, to make her feel more comfortable. Gail's mind blanked.

After Sirius had backed off, she realized that she had, in fact, been snogging him. Sirius looked like a happy child that had successfully stolen a bunch of candy. She felt a little disgusted with herself, but that was wiped away when Sirius brushed another kiss across her cheek.

"Ah, I'm going to put this stuff away," Gail finally said firmly, "and give Mati his mouse. I'll see you at supper, okay?"

Sirius nodded, a little bit sadly, "see you."

Gail ran up the stairs and slammed into the dormitory. Her heart felt like it was going to jump out of her chest, or maybe that was her stomach. She dully scanned the room, feeling a bright smile forming on her face. She had just kissed a boy for the first time in her life, and it went pretty well.

Any elation she had felt fell flat the moment her eyes collided with Lily Evans, who was sitting on the edge of Gail's bed. She had a look of a parent, who had been waiting on a tardy child. Because of Lily's moody stare, Gail forced her smile down a few notches.

"Everything okay, Lily?" Gail asked tentatively, taking a few steps into the room.

"No, everything is not bloody-well-okay," Lily shot up, walking straight towards Gail. Her face was completely red and blotchy, "you know I don't approve of you dating Black! He's... He's bad news!"

Gail's smile stopped completely. She had totally forgotten how rotten it had been in the cupboard, "I don't approve of myself, either, Lily."

Lily didn't say anything, but frowned at her. Gail continued talking, maybe only to herself, "I know he'll get bored of me eventually, but I doubt our relationship will get that far."

"It won't?" Lily asked her, taking a deep breath. Her face slowly faded from the normal red glow of anger.

"No, I'm not even sure I really 'love' him, you know?" Gail sighed impatiently, doing her best to explain her feelings to the distraught redhead, "I'll need some time to figure it out, and that means experimenting. It's nothing to worry about for now, Lily. We had our first date and we only held hands."

"Then what was that smile about?" Lily asked sourly, her glare returning.

"Fine, so we kissed a little bit," it was Gail's turn to go red from her neck upwards, but not from anger.

"Well," Lily leaned forward, "how was it?"

"Lily!" Gail swatted her friend away, frowning at her, "none of your business, little Missy!"

* * *

**Author Note:**

Ah! Chapter 15 was almost one long scene. The date is a lot more fluffy than I had originally intended it. I wonder if the kiss was okay. Ah, I was freaking out at that part, sort of like Gail. I really want her to get some experience with boys.

There won't be an update until **SUNDAY**. I will be out of town, with no internet.

I've also started doing deleted scenes from the current chapter, so that it's still fresh in your minds when you're reading it.

Onto your extra stuff!  
-Rue

* * *

_Deleted Scene:_ **Lily's Day**

"Sirius and Gail have a date today," Avalon was chatting with Melanie, and she knew it wasn't something she was supposed to hear. The information annoyed her, subconsciously. Gail was somewhat of a little sister to Lily. She couldn't help feeling that Gail needed protecting because she had a more fragile personality.

Lily stormed down the stairs, into the common room. It was already one in the afternoon, but she still had hopes of breaking up the date. That was, until some big-headed git called her name.

"Oye, Evans!" James Potter called her while sitting comfortably by the fire, "going somewhere?"

"Only to stop your friend from embarrassing Gail!" Lily tossed a glare at the three boys and continued towards the door.

"Now, you see I can't let you do that," James smiled jovially, "he really seems to like Gail. He'd take it pretty hard if you crashed his date with her."

"What?" Lily snapped, "oh, so he only likes her now that she's lost a few pounds and prettied herself up a bit?"

It was Remus' turn to speak, "no, I think he admired her in our third year. As spiteful as he was, he admired her for sticking up to us for you."

James nodded his head in agreement, "of course, he didn't really fancy her until... well, the train ride this year, or maybe Christmas..."

Lily positively glowered at the boys, "I don't care how long he's liked her. Sirius Black is no good for Gail."

James had his wand out in an instant, "you won't say another word about my best friend, will you, Evans?"

Lily glared down his wand, "you wouldn't dream of hexing me."

"Oh?" James' eyes were alit with fire, his temper sparked for his friend, "why don't you head back up to your dormitory before I decide to hex you into pieces?"

Lily opened her mouth to protest, but Peter cut her off with an expectant gasp.

"Fine," Lily swung around and strode back up the stairs, "but I won't be letting Gail date your _friend_ again."

* * *

**The Comment Gallery**_  
Host: Gail Forester  
Special Guest: Sirius Black, James Potter_

Gail: Welcome to the Comment Gallery. Today, both James and Sirius have taken time out of their busy schedule to drop by.

-Sirius has his arm around Gail possessively-

James: Yes well, I should be in the spotlight. I _am_ the main character of the story.

-Gail snorts-

Sirius: Sure you are, mate.

Gail: Uh, well... The first review is from _MaxRideRox_. Wow, what a long review. Uhm... James, did you promise Max a date with Sirius?

James: Uh, no! That wasn't me.

-Sirius bark-laughs-

Sirius: Of course it is, you signed it _Messier Prongs_.

James: Someone is framing me! I swear!

Sirius: Right, right, and I'm the Queen of France.

Gail: Bonjour ma reine. [Hello my queen].

-James cracks up-

Gail: Is it true that you kept the fanmail, _Snuffles_?

-Sirius ignores her-

James: He hates that nickname, Gail.

Gail: I know. It makes him quiet, which is an improvement.

-Sirius snorts and continues to ignore Gail-

Gail: So James, why do you call Lily "_Evans_"?

James: Easy question. I call almost everyone by their last name. It's a habit from quidditch, I guess. I started calling others by their last name when I'm not on first name terms with them.

Sirius: Gail has always been Gail, though, because we didn't know her last name originally.

James: Yep.

Gail: Did Remus ever read his fanmail?

James: Yeah, I'm pretty sure it put him on edge. He's been jumpy since reading it, and has been saying things like "someone knows..."

Sirius: He's so tightly wound up.

Gail: I see... So our next review is from _Collylocks_.

Sirius: I'll kiss whoever I want, thanks.

Gail: Sirius.

Sirius: What?

Gail: Go kiss a slug and stop being mean to the reviewers.

-Sirius sulks-

James: I like DADA. It's my best class.

-James goes on about how cool he is-

Gail: And he wonders why Lily doesn't like him.

Sirius: Skip to the next review. I'm bored.

Gail: Fine. The next reviewer is _Rapunzel27_.

Sirius: Finally, someone who approves of us.

-Sirius squeezes Gail, who looks uncomfortable-

James: Thanks for the comment. I make the deleted scenes rock, don't I?

Gail / Sirius:_ James / Prongs._

James: Fine fine, I get it. You don't have to tell me twice.

Gail: But we...

Sirius: Don't bother, Gail. He's already lost in his own world.

Gail: That's all the time we have. Send your reviews in, and remember that the author will be gone until sunday.

Sirius: Send more fanmail. My wall is lonely.

-James ruffles his hair and waves-


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Exams were finished in the first week of June. Gail was safe for another year; she had passed all of her classes, and had ended up with the highest marks in Care of Magical Creatures again. She had done rather well in Defense Against the Dark Arts, too, because she had spent a lot of time reviewing with Remus.

At the end of the year, Dumbledore had sent her a note telling her that the wizarding family would meet her at the platform in London's Kings Cross Station. Her stomach was tied in a knot; Gail was extremely worried that they would decide that they didn't like her. She decided to do her best to seem charming and outgoing towards the elderly couple that would be acting as her guardians.

Gail had found her way to a compartment with Lily and the other girls. The news about her 'dating' Sirius had become old news over the past few weeks. This was probably because Gail refused to talk about the 'juicy' details. The blondes had pressured both her and Lily to reveal some information, but neither said a thing.

"Shouldn't you be sitting with Si-ri-us?" Amber jokingly prodded Gail, who shrugged.

"Boys need their space," Gail said noncommittally. She noted the door slide open, as it did at the beginning of the year. Sirius poked his head in a gestured for her to come out.

"Go on," Lily snapped, turning her head and grumbling quietly.

"See you in a bit," Gail waved at the girls as she exited the compartment. She followed Sirius back to the compartment he was sharing with the other marauders. Before opening the door, he turned around and caught her.

He gave her a quick kiss before grabbing her hand and swinging the door open.

"Padfoot! Long time no see," James greeted his friend with a cheerful smile.

"Hello Gail," Remus greeted her when she sat in between him and Sirius.

"How's life?" Gail greet the boys. She noted that Sirius was still in possession of her hand, which he rested on his lap. There was no chance that he would give it back, either. Gail didn't bother to listen to the conversation about Snivellus between James and Sirius.

Peter had noticed the fact that Gail's hand was being held hostage too. His curious gave soon formed into a goofy, excited smile. None of the others seemed to notice. Remus attempted to make conversation with her. She was quite grateful to him for at least trying.

"So do you know which family you'll be staying with?" Remus asked politely.

"No," Gail smiled nervously, "but knowing Dumbledore, he probably has a reason. Such a sneaky old man."

James snorted, "sneaky? That's an understatement. I heard he was almost put into Slytherin."

"More stories from Batty Bagshot?" Sirius asked, not really interested in the story. His thumb was drawing little circles on the back of Gail's hand.

"Who?" Gail asked, her dark brown eyes focused on James.

"Bathilda Bagshot. She's one of my neighbors," James explained, "a good friend of my family. She enjoys telling stories about the Dumbledores to anyone who'll listen. Nice old lady."

"Oh," Gail pondered over that piece of information. She was sure she'd read the name somewhere before, but she wasn't overly sure where.

"So all of you are from wizarding families?" Gail asked, her question directed more towards Remus and Peter. Remus nodded peacefully.

"I'm what's known as a halfblood," Remus snorted, "half and a _bit_."

The other boys caught the joke and laughed, but Gail didn't get it. Remus just shrugged.

"Me too," Peter piped up, "I'm also a halfblood."

"Oh," Gail's eyes shifted between Remus and Peter nervously. She had been hoping at least one of them would be able to console her.

Sirius finally released her hand. Gail seemed rather shocked that the giant kid had released his favourite toy. He snaked an arm around her, ignoring her slight discomfort at being so close to another human.

"Merlin's beard, Padfoot. Leave the poor girl alone," James laughed at the two of them. Sirius just frowned at James, before he continued, "er- down boy?"

Remus snorted, "just let him be, Prongs, you know how he gets..."

Gail had enough, she swatted Sirius away gently. Her face was beginning to feel hot, "enough, Snuffles."

"Snuffles?" James stared at her, his eyes wide in surprise. Sirius looked rather annoyed at the nickname. He removed his arm from around Gail, and looked away sulkily.

"Sirius is just like a guard dog," Gail noted, "so his nickname is Snuffles. Isn't that wight, Snuffles?"

Gail lovingly ruffled up Sirius' hair, as she would with a pet dog. He continued to glower at her and the other marauders. Gail just laughed softly at his pouting. He seemed to be in a rather foul mood for the entire day.

"Padfoot," James started, earning a glare from Sirius, "so you'll try to come over to my house this summer? My mum will be excited to see you."

Sirius grumbled, "yeah well, I wish I could head straight over, though."

"You're lucky James is a pureblood," Remus commented, "I doubt your parents would let you stay at our houses, right Wormy?"

Peter's nod was exaggerated. The boys laughed, and Sirius attempted to appear cheerful. Gail was sure none of the boys really believed that the Sirius' mood improved that easily. It looked like he really did not want to go back home.

"Ah," Gail remembered something. She dug a hand into her pockets, pulling out some bags, "Flink gave these to me this morning. Ah, looks like some cookies and a few squished sandwiches."

Sirius, who had been eyeing the cookies, smiled. Gail knowingly gave him a cookie without even asking him if he wanted one. Both James and Peter grabbed a sandwich, and Remus grabbed one of the chocolate chip cookies. Gail nibbled on a sandwich, as well, enjoying the very temporary silence in the compartment. The five of them rode away from their fourth year at Hogwarts in general peace.

* * *

Gail had bid the marauders good bye when the train neared Kings Cross Station. She even allowed Sirius to give her a swift kiss before she left their compartment. She had to change out of her school uniform into her normal clothes, which she had left in the girls' compartment. When she entered the compartment, she noted that they had already changed.

"Oh, look who it is! Come back from a snog?" Amber fox whistled at her, tossing a cheery wink at Gail. Any jealousy that the blonde held had long since evaporated. She was now rooting for their relationship because of a bet between herself, Lily, Jo, Avalon and Melanie.

"Break up with Black yet?" Lily asked sourly.

"Nope, I shared my lunch with him, and the dreaded marauders," Gail laughed, grabbing her clothes. She quickly changed into her 'muggle' clothes. She wore a grey, A-line skirt with a high waist line. The skirt stopped just below her knees. Her legs were covered with regular nylons. Her off-white top was neatly tucked into her skirt. Her top had a polo neck. Gail's wrists peaked out of the three-quarter length sleeves. Her skin had faded over the winter, but still appeared slightly olive. She hoped she looked the part of a "sweet" girl.

Gail ignored the approving look of the other girls, who were also wearing the same style of clothes. She fiddled with the bottom of her skirt nervously, realizing that she hadn't told them that she was staying with a wizard family. She hadn't told Lily about her father because she didn't want to worry the redhead. She was saved the agony of divulging the information when the train screeched to a halt.

"Well, see all of you next year," Jo smiled at them, avoiding Gail's gaze completely as she departed.

Gail didn't have time to ponder this, though, the other girls were filing out of the compartment too, saying farewells. Amber had pulled her into a hug, tearing up a little bit.

"See you next year, Gail," Amber trotted off behind Melanie and Avalon.

Gail turned to Lily, who was almost as moody as Sirius, "aw, come on Lily. Lighten up. I won't get to see you all summer."

"Hmph," Lily grumbled, but she still gave Gail a bear hug, "next year, you're going to be prettier than me, I just know it."

"Haha," Gail laughed sarcastically, "you know that won't ever happen, Miss Evans. It's impossible."

Lily just smiled, "see you around."

"Yep. Take care of yourself, Lily," Gail waved at her, before turning to get her own school trunk and Mati's straw basket. She dutifully trudged off of the train, behind a line of other students. Gail's heart stung slightly, seeing students greeting their parents with hugs and kisses.

Before she could start to tear up, a warm voice called from behind her, "ah, there she is. Abigail Forester?"

Gail turned to see an extremely tall man with grey hair. The man had a pair of stern, brown eyes. He stared at her for a moment before waving her over.

"You _are_ Abigail, aren't you?" The man asked as Gail stared up at him. She nodded meekly before he continued, "very well. I'm Perspicuus Prewett, my wife is waiting at home. Come along."

He flicked his wand casually, sending Gail's belongings to who-knows-where. Gail saw, for a moment, Sirius walking sulkily along with a younger boy that looked just like him. When she looked at who he was following, Gail saw a stately woman with her head held high. She could only make out the back side of the woman's head, but she noted how tightly the woman's hair had been tied. From the glance she had caught of the Black family, she felt a twinge of pity for Sirius, who looked like he was walking to his own funeral. She couldn't draw any conclusions about the Blacks, though, because she hadn't even been introduced to them.

"Ah, I see you've noticed the Blacks," the tall man spoke quietly, "they're not overly friendly to... muggleborns. It's best not to get tangled up with them, if you can help it."

Gail nodded, "Sirius said the same type of thing."

"Oh?" the man seemed someone amused for a moment, before holding out his elbow, "ever apparated before?"

"No, sir," Gail shook her head, gently taking hold of his elbow.

"Ah, I thought as much, take a deep breath," with that, he spun slightly, taking Gail with him. Gail felt the sandwich leap back up into her mouth. She prompted it to go back down, though. It left a horrendous taste in her mouth. When the world stopped spinning for Gail, the smell of the ocean caught her attention.

They had dropped right onto the coast. The small, white house stood against the dark, grey ocean. A luscious garden surrounded the house, and was encased by a white fence. The grass around the house was a healthy shade of green. Gail noted a few garden gnomes running around to find hiding spots. Gail momentarily thought she had stepped into a dream. This house seemed so much more vibrant than the place she had lived in for fourteen years with her father.

"It might seem a little small on the outside," Mr. Prewett was saying to her, "but the inside is cozy enough."

"It's wonderful, sir," Gail remarked, passing through the white gate with a look of awe on her face. She totally missed the smile on Mr. Prewett's face.

He pushed the door to the cottage open, inviting Gail to step inside. She did so, and the magic of the scenery hit her. The house was furnished warmly, and it did seem larger inside than the outside had suggested.

Before Gail could really look around, a short woman came bustling to the front door with a bright smile on her face. The woman have wonderful orange hair with no sign of greys. Her age appeared on her face, though. She was quite elderly, Gail thought, and was probably suited towards being a grandmother.

"Ah, here is my wife, Tera," Mr. Prewett greeted his wife with a brief kiss on the cheek, "this young girl is Abigail Forester."

"Nice to meet you," Gail tried her best to smile sweetly under the woman's gaze. She had been placed here by Dumbledore, and she was grateful. She would do her best to make the Prewetts like her.

"You're far too skinny, dear," Mrs. Prewett finally said, "come in! Come in! You need a good home cooked meal. Dinner should be just about ready."

Gail let out a sigh of relief. She took off her shoes and placed them next to the others at the front door before following Mrs. Prewett into the dinning room. The room was very impressive. The table looked like it could seat twenty. Food had been placed at the end of the table on delicate, china platters. Mr. Prewett took his spot at the head of the table, and motioned for Gail to sit on his left. Mrs. Prewett bustled into the room, carrying a large tray of meat and other food items.

Gail was really impressed by Mrs. Prewett's cooking. It was the first time someone other than her father or house elves had cooked for her. There was a huge motherly touch to everything Gail ate. Her chest felt faintly warm by the effort that the older woman had put into cooking for her.

"So I hear you're working for the ministry during the summer," Mr. Prewett stated after they had finished eating. His stern eyes fixed on her, "and that you worked as an intern last year."

"Yes sir," Gail nodded. "I've received permission from the ministry to use the floo connections to arrive at work, at the fifth nursery."

"Any idea what you'll be doing?" Mr. Prewett asked calmly, watching his wife clean off the food out of the corner of his eye.

"I assume they'll be giving me odd jobs around the nursery, those that can be done by a fifteen year old," Gail found herself smiling at the idea, "hopefully, I'll be doing more this year. My senior said I would be helping feed some of the less dangerous creatures."

"Oh, I see," Mr. Prewett nodded in agreement at her statement, "you'll have weekends off, though?"

"Our children are coming back next weekend," Mrs. Prewett chipped in, "we'd like for you to meet our family. Fabian and Gideon both have time off work and Molly is brining her husband and two children."

"How old is William?" Mr. Prewett suddenly asked his wife.

"Billy is five, Perse, and Charlie is three," Mrs. Prewett smiled happily at the reminder of her two grandchildren, before turning her expectant look back to Gail, "you'll be able to come, yes?"

"I get weekends off," Gail conceded, but she failed to mention that she worked so hard for the other five days of the week that she was completely exhausted on the weekends.

"Splendid!" Mrs. Prewett smiled cheerfully as she turned to head back towards the kitchen.

Gail was just happy that she would be able to have a few days to settle into the house before she had to meet a few new people. She also had tomorrow to look forward to, as he first official day of working during the summer.

* * *

**Author Note:**

Aww~ Sulky Sirius. He's just so cute, even when he's being moody about going back home.

I can't believe how similar the "fashions" from 1974 are to days. I really adore high-waist skirts. If you're interested, try to google "clothes from 1974". You'll be able to see where I got the idea for Gail's clothes from.

Perspicuus (Perse) and Tera mean _bright_ and _earth_, respectively, in latin. What do you think? I wonder if I'll be able to do Bill and Charlie justice. Next chapter is going to be interesting, and quite a bit longer.

Onto the other stuff!  
-Rue

* * *

_Deleted Scene:_ **No greater joy than to share cookies...**

It was Flink's turn to bake that day. She had spent a large amount of time preparing bread for the last breakfast of the students for the year. The small house elf had also prepared a bunch of cookies for her friend, Miss Gail, who has said that she would stop by that morning.

"Wowie Flink!" One of Flink's friends gasped, staring at the large cookies, "who'd you make those for?"

"I made them for Miss Gail!" Flink said proudly. Sharing cookies was one of the best things to do with your friends. Gail had seemed to enjoy Flink's giant chocolate chip cookies quite a bit the last time they were made, so the house elf had decided to make some for a parting gift.

"Can I have one?" The house elf asked, timidly looking up to Flink. Flink, who couldn't say no, nodded.

"Just one, Anise!" Flink said firmly. She watched as the other elf ate the cookie. A smile formed on the elf's face.

"They're really good!" The elf named Anise said with bits of melted chocolate stuck on the front of her teeth, causing several other elves to giggle at her.

Eventually, there was so much commotion over the cookies that Flink had ended up letting about 20 elves have one. There were only three left. She quickly placed the remaining three into a paper bag. She had planned on giving the full twenty four cookies to Gail. She sulked for a moment, before deciding to make a few sandwiches from the fresh bread to go with the cookies.

Gail arrived in the kitchen just as Flink finished wrapping up the sandwiches. She darted around the other elves, who were still busy preparing breakfast for the students, and handed two paper bags to Gail.

"These are for your trip home!" Flink squeaked cheerfully.

Gail bent over and pulled her into a hug before placing the two bags into her pockets.

"Thank you, Flinkies!" Flink's heart sped up as she watched the pretty girl smile warmly at her. It was Flink's greatest wish to be helpful to a mistress like Gail. One day, she hoped that she would be able to provide more than just sandwiches and cookies to the dusky haired human.

Flink was quite sad when Gail left, saying she would miss the train if she stayed any longer.

**The Comment Gallery**

_Host: Gail Forester_

_Special Guest: Professor McGonagall_

Gail: Welcome to the Comment Gallery! I'm Gail Forester. Joining me today is Professor Minerva McGonagall.

McGonagall: It was about time that you had some structure in this section.

Gail: Yes, Professor.

-McGonagall pulls on some glasses and reads the first review-

McGonagall: I'm afraid I'm going to have to confiscate this review from _MaxRideRox_. Mr. Black has a large enough ego, and he should be focusing on his studies.

-She ignores the part about James-

Gail: Erm... Well, can I at least answer Max's question?

McGonagall: By all means, answer it, but this letter will not leave my hands.

Gail: Sirius is clingy. I get sorta uncomfortable when he wants to touch me a lot. I get the feeling that the author uses this section to show the readers small hints about the next chapter.

McGonagall: As most good authors do.

Gail: Well, our next review comes from _Rapunzel27_. I'm glad he liked me before I became _HOT_ too...

-Gail watches McGonagall from the corner of her eye-

McGonagall: By Merlin, Forester. I am a woman too. It's perfectly fine to discuss your feelings during the right moments.

Gail: Professor, do you like Sirius too?

McGonagall: He is a very intelligent and talented student of mine. He could take a few lessons from Lupin, though, in regards to manners and etiquette in regards to jokes.

Gail: That's for sure.

-Gail rubs next to her nose-

McGonagall: It appears that you have a fan, Forester. _MizzClumsyBabe_ said that you were an alright OC.

-She refuses to ask about Sirius' lonely wall-

Gail: I'm glad that the author did something right in bringing me to life. So far, the comments about me have been positive, thankfully!

McGonagall: The next review is from _Collylocks_.

Gail: I know you don't want. The author was hitting herself while writing the last chapter. She didn't want it either, but at least it was half-decent. I had fun on the date.

McGonagall: Forester.

Gail: Yes, Professor?

McGonagall: You deserve someone better than Sirius Black. As a student, he's fine, but he got you in a lot of trouble during your date.

Gail: Say, are you only here to make sure that Sirius can't be? Punishing him twice as much, Proff?

McGonagall: As a matter of fact, because I am here, I am ensuring that the young minds of the readers do not become corrupt by Black.

Gail: So you're here to prevent Black from being here.

McGonagall: Yes.

Gail: And the other marauders, too?

McGonagall: Yes.

Gail: Works for me. Rule breakers beware, Professor McGonagall is watching even sections like this and she WILL catch you.

McGonagall: That goes without saying, but yes. As a teacher at Hogwarts, it is my duty to prevent those boys from causing havoc.

Gail: That's all the time we have for today. Give it up for the kind Professor.

McGonagall: It's almost curfew, Forester. Time for you to head back to the common room.

Gail: Yes, Professor.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Life exploded in the little, white cottage. There was always something going on. Gail hadn't even been there a full week, but she could see how interesting her summer would be. The Prewetts, like other pureblood families, would hold various parties every week – sometimes to celebrate and sometimes just to socialize with distant relatives. The party that Mrs. Prewett was holding on the weekend was to welcome Gail, as well as introduce her to the rest of the family; as Mrs. Prewett had said. Gail was quite nervous, herself. She didn't quite know what to expect. She had been told to just wear her normal clothes, though.

The door opened the first time to reveal a family of four, all of whom had ginger hair like Mrs. Prewett. Gail, who had been sitting on the stairs, helped them by taking their coats and hanging them up in the side closet.

"Oh, you're here!" Mrs. Prewett greeted all four with a hug and kiss, "so nice of you to come! Let me introduce you to Gail Forester." Gail was quite glad that she had told Mrs. Prewett to call her Gail, instead of Abigail.

Mrs. Prewett bumped Gail forward, beaming at her family, "Gail, this is my daughter's family. This is Molly, and her husband Arthur. The older child is Bill, and the younger one is Charlie."

"You're related to us?" Little Bill asked, his eyes shining up at her.

"She's your cousin, dear," Mrs. Prewett told Bill, giving Gail a knowing look. Such young children couldn't remember family dynamics, anyway. Bill seemed content with the answer.

Charlie, on the other hand, seemed very attached to his mother's skirt. He seemed quite timid around those he didn't know even his own grandmother. This was common in young children, and Charlie was no different. Gail supposed he had just gotten over the "terrible" twos. Charlie didn't say a word, but stared at her with doe-like eyes.

Arthur moved forward to shake her hand. Gail smiled nervously, her hand seemed to be swallowed by his warm hand. He seemed over-joyed to meet her, even though his greeting was a short, "hello, nice to meet you."

Molly was too busy keeping her children in line as she herded them into the house. She merely offered a nod in Gail's direction.

The door opened again to show two more men with ginger hair. They seemed a bit older than their sister. Both men shook her hand and greeted her when she was introduced to them.

"Nice to meet you," Fabian shook her left hand amiably.

"Glad you could make it," Gideon shook her right hand at the same time.

Gail followed the brothers into the house. She found that the family had settled themselves in the living room. Bill sat on his grandfather's lap and was playing "horsey" or something similar. Mr. Prewett bounced his knee once in a while for his grandson. Fabian and Gideon sat next to Mr. Weasley and began talking about muggle devices. Gail had to hide her smile when she heard them mention the common toaster oven. Mrs. Prewett and Molly were talking about a recipe. None of them seemed to notice Charlie toddle out of the room.

Gail followed the three year old, walking quietly. She didn't want to scare him, but it wouldn't do for him to get lose in the house, or get hurt. Charlie walked all the way up to Gail's room, which she had decorated with both muggle and wizard pictures of magical creatures. The toddler seemed quite taken with the picture of a Hungarian Horntail dragon on her bedside table. He was quite content to stare at it.

Until his mum started calling for him. He looked up and finally noticed Gail. His eyes went wide and slightly watery, but he didn't say anything.

Gail made no movement to touch Charlie. Instead, she picked up the picture and held it out for Charlie. The toddler took the picture carefully and tucked it into his pocket. Gail noted the grateful smile on his face as she straightened up. As she turned to leave the room, she felt the tug of a small hand on her skirt.

"Let's go find mum," Gail smiled down at the little boy. At that moment, she was reminded of Sirius when she had given him a mint. Gail quickly took the toddler's hand and lead him back down the stairs to the living room.

Molly looked fairly relieved that her second son wasn't lost in the white cabin. She nodded gratefully and bent down to pick Charlie up. That was a mistake. She found the picture quickly.

"Charlie, it's not good to steal things," Molly scolded her son sternly. Gail noted that Molly's face looked a lot like Mr. Prewett's at that moment.

"Oh," Gail piped up, " I gave it to him. He seemed to really like that picture."

"Really?" Molly asked, looking down at the picture, as if she was debating whether or not to let her son keep it. She ignored Charlie's wobbling lip, "thank you, Gail."

Molly slid the picture back into Charlie's pocket. They wouldn't mention it again, but Gail expected that Charlie wouldn't be able to keep the dragon for long.

"Dinner is ready," Mrs. Prewett smiled, guiding her guests to the table. Gail was seated to the right of Mr. Prewett as the guest of honour. On her right was Mr. Weasley, who shifted uncomfortably for a moment. Gail decided to try for a conversation with the man.

"I heard you like muggle machines," Gail started out, attempting to draw him into a comfortable topic.

"Oh yes," Arthur agreed amicably, "I work in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office at the ministry."

"Really?" Gail was impressed that Arthur had followed his interests, as she hoped to do, as well, "I grew up in a muggle household."

"Ah yes, I think I've heard of you," Arthur scratched his chin in thought, "old Bluebottom, the head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, has been announcing how superior his interns are to anyone who'll listen."

Gail went pink in the face, but before she could say anything, Mr. Prewett cut in, "Abigail is quite the hard worker. When she gets home most nights, she's literally exhausted."

"I heard the creatures department usually wears interns out relatively fast. Well done, Abigail," Arthur smiled at her, nodding his head.

"Thank you," Gail nodded meekly, her entire face flush.

"Eat some more, Molly," Mrs. Prewett was saying from her husband's side, "you're all skin and bones."

Gail was glad to know that everyone was treated the same by Mrs. Prewett, even if they were quite plump already. The woman insistently tried to overfeed everyone; her children were no exception.

"Have some more roast, Fab," Mrs. Prewett hoisted the meat platter over her head, much to Gail's surprise. She had always thought that the woman was frail and elderly in appearance. Fabian took some roast beef, so that his mother could set the platter down. Mr. Prewett beamed proudly at his sons for a moment before leaning towards Gail.

"They used to be rascals when they were your age," he spoke quietly, "and now look at them. The world can make gentlemen out of the worst."

Gail smiled at the pride that reflected in Mr. Prewett's voice. In order to stop her thoughts of her own father, she forced herself to think about the marauders. For a moment, she wondered if time would make even the marauders into gentlemen, as well. She doubted it though. She couldn't imagine Sirius as anything but childish.

Dinner was finished as quickly as it had started, and Gail honestly couldn't remember eating a thing, although her plate was dirty and her stomach was full. Molly stated that the two children would be put to bed soon. The Prewetts and Gail walked their guests to the door. Both Fabian and Gideon shook her hands again before leaving. Then it was the Weasleys' turn, Gail was surprised when Charlie toddled over to her.

"Bye bye," Charlie said quietly, staring at her with adoring eyes.

"See you, Charlie," Gail smiled at the boy, waving.

"My goodness," Gail heard Molly saying, "that's the first time Charlie spoke to someone so easily."

"Yes, dear," Arthur agreed with his wife before both of them apparated out of sight.

Gail, quite tired, headed to bed soon after. She family recalled Mrs. Prewett saying something about a dinner party the next week. She didn't mind about this small fact, for the most part. She was busy working. If she wasn't working, then she was helping around the house or garden. When there was nothing else to do, she would "explore" the country side along the ocean.

* * *

Mrs. Prewett's next dinner party was for her extended family, which included quite a few other pureblood families. Gail was rather unhappy when she was introduced to the Malfoys, who had brought their "darling," blond son with them. For a moment, Gail was feeling like a statue in a museum. Mrs. Prewett had insisted on her wearing some dress robes. When Gail had explained that she had no dress robes, Mrs. Prewett jumped on the opportunity to "take a girl shopping." Therefore, Gail was left wearing the black dress robes that Mrs. Prewett had said looked wonderful on her. All of Gail's misgivings about the party evaporated when she saw the next group of guests, though.

The Potters had been invited to the party. The elderly couple had been friends with the Prewetts for a long time; they had attended Hogwarts together. Gail's heart jumped happily when she spotted James. She knew she would have company, at least, if the party bombed. While Mrs. Prewett greeted the Potters, Gail peaked over her shoulder. She noted that James seemed disinterested, even though he was pretending to behave.

"Ah, let me introduce you to our house guest," Mrs. Prewett beamed, and Gail noticed the difference in introductions. Gail had been introduced as a distant cousin of the Prewetts to the Malfoys, "this is Gail Forester."

Mrs. Prewett stepped aside to let the Potters look at her. Gail noted that Mr. Potter looked a lot like James. Mrs. Prewett kept talking, "Gail, these two are my best friends from Hogwarts and their son, James."

"Hello," Gail greeted them stiffly, not daring to glance at James.

"Oh, what a lovely girl. How old are you, dear?" Mrs. Potter asked her.

"I'm fifteen," Gail remarked softly, "same year as James."

"Griffindor?" Mr. Potter asked. Gail responded with a stiff nod, causing both Potters to beam at her. She found their genuine kindness a little strange, but she could see how James would have become spoiled over time.

"Gail, dear, why don't you show James around?" Mrs. Prewett offered, "while we wait for the others to arrive?"

The Potters had already moved along towards the drawing room, leaving James, Gail and Mrs. Prewett at the door. No sooner had Mrs. Prewett's suggested a tour than had another group arrived. A large group, too.

"Oh, it's the Blacks," Mrs. Prewett beamed, greetin them at the door. She introduced Gail and James to the large group.

"Gail, James, this is Walburga and Orion Black, and their two sons, Sirius and Regulus. It looks like their niece, Narcissa, came as well. Bellatrix couldn't make it? What a shame."

James greeted Sirius like they were long, lost brothers. The Blacks had moved into the house, following Mrs. Prewett. Gail was left to greet Regulus.

"Nice to meet you," Gail spoke quietly, shaking the boy's hand. She felt somewhat sorry for him, he would be the youngest at the dinner party. Regulus, though, nodded shyly at her before darting off after his mother. Gail would never have pegged someone that looks like Sirius to be shy.

"Don't mind him," Sirius laughed. One of his arms was draped around James' shoulders, "he's a momma's boy."

Gail nodded slowly, allowing her dark eyes to fall onto Sirius. He looked well enough, judging that he had been grumpy the entire time he was at home. Gail assumed that Sirius' mood would deteriorate throughout the party.

"Show us around," James prompted, "I've never seen the Prewett's whole house."

Gail grudgingly gave the two boys a tour, showing the living room, kitchen and dining room on the main floor. They skipped the drawing room, where the other guests were. Gail then lead the boys up the stairs and showed them the main bedroom, bathroom, study and one of the spare bedrooms.

"What about your bedroom?" Sirius pouted, leaning "cooly" against a wall.

"It's too messy," Gail snapped, refusing to show them.

"Bet it's the one with the closed door," James grinned, pointing down the hall.

Before Gail could say anymore, the two boys were inspecting her room. It was probably the messiest room in the house. Gail hadn't made her bed in a while and her school supplies were placed in odd spots around the room. At least she had the common sense not to leave dirty clothes on the floor.

Sirius plopped himself onto her bed, "you call this messy? My room would be a pigsty."

"Mine would be a war zone," James laughed, but remained standing, somewhat awkwardly, in her room.

"Dinner is ready," Mrs. Prewett's voice filled the room, "please come downstairs."

Gail was seated in between Regulus and Narcissa. She had wished to be seated with her Griffindor friends, but it wasn't so. Mrs. Prewett knew enough to sit the boys at opposite ends of the table. Gail had been seated in the middle, so that she could converse with the other guests.

She certainly couldn't talk to Walburga Black, who sat across from her. Gail felt uncomfortable just thinking about it, because the woman had ignored her presence, unlike Mrs. Potter. Narcissa Black was too engaged in conversation with Lucius Malfoy, who was beside her. Gail's only option was to speak with Regulus.

"So you're a Slytherin?" Gail asked after she had finished eating the main course, "I'm in Griffindor, with Sirius."

Regulus nodded dully, not really responding. Because of this, there was a long pause. Gail overheard Mrs. Black commenting on their house elf, and how faithful he was to the Blacks. Gail remembered Sirius' saying something about "Kreacher."

"Your house elf's name is 'Kreacher,' right?" Gail asked Regulus.

"Yes," Regulus finally responded, his eyes falling on her face. He went slightly scarlet, for whatever reason.

"I heard he's cute," Gail faintly smiled at him. He looked slightly horrified, but said nothing in response.

The rest of the meal passed in silence. It was soon time to send off the guests. The Malfoys left first, and the Potters followed.

"Come visit again," Gail waved at James and his parents, wondering if they really would come back. She didn't have long to wait for the Blacks to leave, either.

Walburga Black and her husband were halfway out the door when Sirius decided he needed to say farewell to Gail in a special way. Though their kiss was brief, the expressions on the Blacks' faces were not. Walburga looked stunned, just like her youngest son. Gail assumed that Sirius would receive a firm 'talking to' about preserving the bloodline when he got home.

"Oh dear," Mrs. Prewett remarked after the Blacks had left, "I never thought..."

"That Sirius Black would be dating me?" Gail asked with one of her eyebrows raised slightly.

"No," Mrs. Prewett chuckled, "that he would save that kiss for his exit."

* * *

It was bright and early one morning, and Gail was working. She had already began her normal duties. The new born hippogriffs needed feeding; Gail was feeding them sliced up mice remains. The job was easy enough, it was just a matter of not feeding your fingers to the babies. One of the hippogriff babies had even taken to Gail. The hippogriff, named "Wicket," would follow her around throughout the day. Wicket was the size of a small dog and was the smallest of the newborns. The other caretakers had said that Wicket's mother had died during the winter, so it had imprinted on the first thing it had seen when it hatched in the summer. As a result, Gail would feed him first and would usually give him more than the others.

Today was different, though. Much of the hypogriffs had learned how to fly. Unfortunately, Wicket had no parent to teach him how to fly. He wouldn't be able to fly without guidance. This caused one of the nursery supervisors to hand her a broom.

"Use this to show him how to fly," the supervisor said, "he'll figure the rest out."

Gail stared at the broom in her hand before looking down at the brown, baby hippogriff, "alright Wicket, let's fly."

Gail lead the creature outside before mounting the broom. Wicket just stared at her like she was loony, though. There was nothing for it. Gail took off, slowly, on the broom. Hanging in the air, she waited for the baby hippogriff. She had Wicket's full attention, but he wouldn't use his wings. Gail Stated making slow circles on the broom, but to no avail, as the infant just stared at her with its amber eyes. Wicket tilted its head to the side.

Gail Frowned for a moment, stopping to think. Wicket probably needed a visual as an example. It wasn't enough to just fly on a broom. Gail slowly removed her hands from the broom and proceeded to make herself look like an idiot. She steadily flapped her arms as if they were wings. Of course, she had stopped moving because she couldn't steer without hands. Even just hoovering, it was a miracle that she remained on the broom at all.

Wicket, upon seeing Gail "flap" her arms, attempted to do so as well. She couldn't tell if it was because of his size, or what, but Wicket only got a few inches off the ground.

"Good job, Wicket!" Gail clapped, causing the hippogriff to coo and attempt to fly again.

_X.X.X.X_

Over the course of the next month, Wicket put on a great deal of weight and his wingspan had increased greatly. He could effectively keep up with a broom going full speed now, with little difficulty. He still got tired after flying for a long time. Gail had been given the job of keeping an eye on the group of young hippogriffs while they were exercising their wings.

After flying on the back of a broom daily, Gail had become more confident in herself. She could keep up with even the adult hippogriffs.

Because of her increasing skill base, the supervisor of the nursery brought her to the side. After sh had finished feeding the creatures their dinner meal.

"You've been a great help again this summer, Gail," he said stonily, "but if you want to keep moving up and taking care of more dangerous creatures, there are a few skills you will need."

Gail nodded her head enthusiastically, and he continued, "these skills need to be mastered by the time you graduate. I've written a list for you. Here."

The supervisor handed Gail a list that read:

NECESSARY SKILLS AND N.E.W.T.S.:

_N.E.W.T.S._:

Care of Magical Creatures  
Charms  
Transfiguration  
Herbology

_Optional N.E.W.T.S._

Defence Against the Dark Arts  
Potions

_SKILLS:_

Internship; 2 years or more  
Broom Mastery  
Apparition License  
Animagus License

Gail turned to the supervisor after reading the list with a questioning look on her face, "animagus license, sir?"

"Yes," the supervisor nodded, "we take in werewolves on full moons and provide a safe environment for them to transform in. As the last nursery doing so, we have to ask all full time workers to become animagus to prevent the spread of the infection."

The supervisor frowned at Gail, "if you should find difficulties on any of the items, you could be moved to one of the other nurseries."

Gail shook her head, "I'll do my best to stay here, sir."

"Good," the supervisor seemed to relax, "it would be a shame to lose you after you've helped out so much."

* * *

**Author Note:**

So this chapter is a lot longer than normal, because it took be two days. I hope everyone liked it. I had a lot of fun writing it, instead of spending time "socializing" with my own family. Yes, I know how totally awkward it can be when you're forced to talk with someone that you REALLY don't want to.

Today's deleted scene is one thing I will never write... Well, maybe not yet. We'll see how I feel, later.

Enjoy.

-Rue

* * *

_Deleted Scene:_ **A Fiery Fight?**

"I can't believe you!" Gail screeched, glaring at Sirius, who was perched on her unmade bed. James excused himself from the room.

"What's the matter with you?" Sirius heatedly returned, standing up so that he could glare down at her.

"You!" Gail yelled at him, "you're the one that doesn't even write to me! What's wrong with _you_?"

Sirius seemed to loom over her, anger present in his eyes. He didn't yell back at her, but there was a dangerous sting to his voice, "so what if I can't write to you? I didn't find any letters from you, did I?"

Gail glared up at him, "I didn't write because _YOU_ didn't want to hear from me."

"What?" Sirius spluttered, "I never said... How'd you...?"

Gail was a second from crying and Sirius knew it. He wouldn't win today. Sirius roughly grabbed her, pulling her close. Their mouths connected in a fiery, passionate kiss. They eventually broke off from one another.

"Silly git," Sirius grumbled, forcing Gail's head into his shoulder, "I wanted a letter from you."

Gail sniffed loudly into his shoulder, "really?"

"Yeah," Sirius mumbled, moving one of his hands along her back.

"I wanted a letter, too," Gail frowned at him, but didn't say a word about his lowered hands.

The two stayed that way for a while longer, until Mrs. Prewett's voice echoed in the room, calling them for dinner. James flung the door open. His eyes were shut tightly.

"You two can't do it here," James finally said, peaking one eye open, "because dinner is ready."

James sighed out of relief, seeing that his best mate and Gail weren't doing anything more than hugging.

* * *

**The Comment Gallery  
**_Host: Sirius Black  
Special Guest: Regulus Black_

Sirius: Welcome to the Comment Gallery. I'm the lovable Sirius Black. Gail is busy with work so... Here I am at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London. My- er- guest is my little brother, Regulus.

-Regulus gulps and waves shyly-

Sirius: Let's see... Here, read this Reg.

Regulus: Do I really have to?

-Sirius glares at his brother-

Regulus: Fine, _Wolfstar4_ first. Thanks for the review. That was really nice of you.

Sirius: Faster, Reg.

Regulus: The next one is _HigurashiRei_. Flink is cute, isn't she?

Sirius: When did you meet Flink?

Regulus: I uh... Like the Hogwart's kitchen.

-Sirius looks disinterested-

Regulus: The next review is from _Rapunzel27_.

Sirius: My pouty face is way cuter than Flink.

-Regulus looks put-out-

Regulus: Our last review today is from _MaxRideRox_.

Sirius: Ol' Minnie confiscated my fanmail? We'll see about that.

MaxRideRox: OH MY... OH MY...

Sirius: How did this muggle get here?

Regulus: No idea. Plot twist?

MaxRideRox: OMG, I love you Sirius Black.

Sirius: Of course you do.

-Sirius leans his chair back cooly, Max almost faints-

Regulus: . . .

-Regulus escorts Max out of the house before coming back-

Sirius: Oh right, Gail wanted me to ask you a question. Let's see: _What can you tell us about yourselves?_

-Regulus stares at him, not saying anything-

Sirius: This isn't going to work if you don't talk, Reg.

Regulus: I'm interested in magic.

Sirius: Magic. Hooooo boy, that was SO out there. Any specific types of magic, Reg?

Regulus: W-well, all kinds. From house elf magic to, well, everything else unique out there.

-Sirius yawns and looks _bored_-

Sirius: That's all for now. This is way too boring. Next time I'll tell Gail to make Remus do it, while in Moony form.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Fifth Year

"This year is going to be tough," Lily panicked. The redhead looked absolutely ghastly. Her hair was a mess, and her face was flushed. Lily's panic had been caused by the announcements in every class that the end of the year exams would affect the classes they could take in the last two years of schooling.

Everyone seemed on edge because of the O.W.L.s, even Gail; who was worried about passing Transfiguration and Charms. She wasn't as talented as Lily or Avalon, so she figured if they had worries, she would be in even more trouble. She also had to figure out how to become an animagus by her seventh year.

"At least we all have Friday afternoons off," Avalon said smartly, "we'll have plenty of time to review and finish our homework."

Lily wasn't paying attention, she had opened a textbook already and was hastily reading it. Amber simply rolled her eyes and offered a wave to Gail before leaving, taking the other girls from Griffindor with her. Gail noted that Jo was still not making conversation or even eye contact with her. Gail brooded about this for the rest of lunch. It was almost as curious as the fact that she hadn't seen or heard the marauders. She had failed to find them on the train ride to Hogwarts, and she hadn't seen them at the opening feast. They had skipped Herbology and Potions that morning. Gail was a little bit worried about that. Either they were planning a huge prank or something was wrong. Either way, Gail was worried. She had been chewing her lip all morning.

Gail heard the bell chime signifying that classes were to start soon for the afternoon. She quickly jabbed Lily in the side with her elbow before hurrying the redhead along, "let's go, Lily, we have charms all afternoon."

Lily quickly packed her textbook away and followed Gail out of the Great Hall. They walked to the classroom, which was filled with both the Griffindors and Hufflepuffs. Professor Flitwick wasn't in the class yet. There were very few seats left in the class, and there was only one place where there were two seats side by side. Gail and Lily, therefore, were forced to sit a row in front of Sirius and James.

Lily rushed to sit down, and began pulling out her textbook and some parchment paper to take notes. Gail wasn't in such a rush. She paused in front of Sirius, catching his gaze. He gave her a charming smile.

"Glad to see you survived the summer," Gail remarked, leaning against the desk slightly, allowing her gaze to drop to James, who looked fascinated by Lily. He had come over to the Prewetts' house a few times over the summer, but Gail had been quite tired during those times. She couldn't really remember those visits clearly.

"I had a dream about you," Sirius remarked slyly, leaning over the desk to greet Gail with a short kiss.

"Nothing naughty, I hope," Gail remarked, settling herself in the chair next to Lily. The redhead tossed a glare over at her. Sirius just laughed, and was joined by Peter and James. Gail was surprised that James had been paying attention to more than just Lily. Of course, the messy haired boy just _had_ to ruin a perfectly good class.

"Oye Evans," James started, trying to get her attention.

Lily turned her head slightly to look over her shoulder. Gail couldn't help but snicker at the wary look on Lily's face. The redhead responded shortly, "what, Potter?"

"Go out with me," James started briskly, grinning cheekily at Lily.

"No," Lily gave a short, dignified response before turning back to the front of the class.

Luckily for Lily, Professor Flitwick arrived in the class. He looked very somber as he greeted the class. Gail felt her stomach drop as Flitwick began talking about how important the Charms O.W.L. was. Lily was writing down, word for word, what the small instructor was saying. It looked like she wasn't the only one, either. Several other students were quickly writing notes on what the Charms teacher was saying. This was a strange occurrence in Charms, where the textbook was adequate notes for the most part.

"In order to prepare you for your O.W.L.s, we will start with a temperature change charms. You can find an example of the wand work you will need. There are several different types of charms that can be used to make objects colder or hotter. Let's start with the most simplistic one. The incantation is '_gelide__ tactus,' _which literally means 'to coldly touch'," Flitwick explained, and demonstrated the spell. The air in the room became a few degrees cooler.

"This group of charms can be used to keep yourself warm in a place where the temperature are at extremes, such as at the north pole or inside a volcanoe. Proceed to try this on inanimate objects in groups of two," Flitwick commanded, allowing the class to break up into groups.

Lily turned to Gail, looking quite pale, "partners?"

"Nah, I was going to tell you to work with James," Gail joked, causing the colour to come back in Lily's face. Lily seethed at the idea of working with James Potter. The redhead was so distracted that her malformed wand work caused Gail's feather quill to become frozen solid. This only caused Lily to become more flustered.

Gail sighed, carefully shaping a "µ" with her wand while speaking the incantation, "_gelide tactus_."

Lily's quill had no outward change, unlike Gail's, but Lily looked a little surprised, "it's cool to the touch."

"Well done, Miss Forester. Ten points to Griffindor," Flitwick smiled at Gail, nodding his head. He had totally ignored the boys behind them, who had successfully performed the charm a few times.

"Fix my quill, please?" Gail smiled at her friend, who was skimming the textbook.

"Ah here, this should work," Lily finally looked up from the book and pointed her wand at Gail's quill, "_infervesco tactus_."

Gail's quill was defrosted and warm to the touch. Only Lily could have performed the spell correctly the first time with no demonstration.

"Neat," Gail remarked, smiling at her friend.

Gail pointed her wand at the newly defrosted quill and spoke, "_gelide valde_." Nothing happened. Gail failed to produce even a cold breeze.

"So Gail," Lily leaned in speaking too quietly for the students around them to hear, "you never said anything about your summer. What happened?"

"Oh," Gail felt a little flustered, "it was pretty uneventful, you know, aside from working for the ministry again."

"Oh?" Lily stared at her, "you're more tanned this time, and it looks like you filled out a bit more."

"Filled out?" Gail gaped at her. Her eyebrows furrowed, she quietly hissed at Lily, "what do you mean by that?"

Lily rolled her eyes, but refused to say another word because Flitwick was watching them. Gail silently wondered if she had put back on the weight she had lost the previous summer, and Lily was just hinting that she had noticed in order to break it to Gail gently. She didn't say another word to the redhead for the rest of the class, even though they were working together to perfect the uses of the temperature change charms.

Flitwick ended up assigning the whole class homework. They were to practice the Cold Touch charm and it's empowered variation that would freeze even a fire.

* * *

That evening, Gail had gone to the library after dinner. She had pulled all of the books she could find on animagus from the transfiguration section of the library. The books were piled around her, similarly as when she had been looking for her grandfather's name. Gail was so busy taking notes on animagus that she hadn't even noticed the approach of four naughty little boys.

"Boo," Sirius spoke right into her ear, causing her to jump slightly..

"Oh funny," Gail looked up from her notes to see Sirius with a accusing look on his face. The other three marauders had drifted away to allow them some space.

"Why are you reading about animagus?" Sirius threw himself into a chair next to her, "you're not planning on doing something that could get you _hurt_, are you?"

"I don't know what you mean by that," Gail stared at him warily, pulling out the paper that her supervisor had given her, "but I need to become an animagus by the time that I graduate, so that I can keep working at the nursery."

"Why?" Sirius half barked, snatching the list and reading is quickly, "would they need you to become an animagus?"

"Apparently, they only let animagus work there full time," Gail responded, "because they take on the werewolves that need a place to stay during the full moons. I had been wondering why there were so few full-time employees working there..."

Gail flipped a page in one of the books, looking down at the table, "though, the way things are going, I might not be able to do it... I'm nowhere near good enough at Transfiguration, and I'm not exactly a powerful wizard, am I?"

"Give it time," Sirius said after a moment of silence, "I'm sure if you work at it, you'll be able to become an animagus."

"Says you!" Gail snapped at him, "you're brilliant at Transfiguration."

Sirius seemed a little shocked at this, but he shook his head, "you know I didn't mean it that way. I'd help you if I could, you know. I don't want you to try anything dangerous..."

Gail had already collected her notes and things. She ignored the pained expression on Sirius' face, "sorry, Sirius, I'm just not in the mood to put up with your silliness tonight. I have so little time and..."

Sirius grabbed Gail's arm roughly, and pulled her down onto his lap. He ran a hand softly through her hair for a moment before he spoke, "I can help tutor you, but I don't know how much that'll help you become an animagus. I'll do whatever I can to help and you know it."

Gail nodded her head stiffly, listening to the rhythmic beating of Sirius' heart. She could feel his chest moving with each breath. It was extremely calming to be held so closely. Eventually, Sirius moved a hand around her head to bring her chin up. Gail looked up and her dark brown eyes were caught in Sirius' storm grey eyes. She felt like a rabbit caught by a hunting dog for a moment. His intense stare wouldn't let her turn away.

Sirius inched closer, allowing his lips to rest against hers in a gentle kiss. In an instant, the sneaky marauder had placed his tongue in her mouth. Words could not describe the feeling of allowing another person to enter her mouth, but Gail was feeling more comfortable with Sirius than she had in the past. She allowed him to deepen the kiss slowly, until a certain librarian caught them.

"This is a library! HOW DARE YOU BEFOUL THE BOOKS! OUT! **OUT**!!!" The librarian screeched at them, shooing both teenagers from the library.

"That's the first time I've been kicked out," Gail said airily, still a little light headed from her first french kiss. Sirius' only reaction to this was to chuckle and snatch her hand.

James, Remus and Peter came walking quickly out of the library a moment later. James had a smile plastered on his face, "good evening, Forester. Lovely night for a walk."

"What did you do?" Gail asked, her suspicious peaked as she saw brown vapors escaping the library door.

"Prongs got a muggle stink bomb over the summer," Remus stated. He was rather pink in the face and refused to meet Gail's eyes, "and he thought he would try it out in the library."

"Oh, gross," Gail had caught a whiff of the foul smell leaking from the library, "walk quickly!"

The five students half-ran down the hallway to get away, ignoring shouts behind them. Gail decided she would stay away from the library for a while, or at least visit it when the marauders weren't around.

"So how did the four of you find me?" Gail asked suddenly, when they had slowed to a normal walk.

"With the map!" Peter squeaked. He obviously wasn't supposed to say anything about the map, and promptly slapped a hand over his mouth.

The other boys looked quite wary, so Gail couldn't resist asking, "what map?"

"Er-" James mumbled something.

Gail turned to Sirius, staring at his intently, "what map, Snuffles?"

Sirius' eyes were elsewhere, he obviously wouldn't say. None of them would make eye contact regarding this secret.

"Do I have to torture it out of Peter?" Gail asked quietly, "you know I will? It'll only take one tickling charm, you know."

Sirius exchanged glances with James, who shook his head fervently.

Remus finally spoke up, "come on, just tell her so we can relax. We know she won't tell anyone about the map."

Sirius snapped his head around, glaring at Remus, "no."

James tilted his head to the side, "why not, Padfoot? It's not dangerous, you know."

Sirius sighed and grudgingly nodded. He seemed quite upset about this as James handed Gail a piece of blank parchment, "here Gail, try reading this."

Gail stared at the parchment for a while, before turning her gaze back to James, who had a sneaky smile on his face, "it's blank, James. There's nothing to read."

"Try with your wand," Peter offered, "and don't forget to introduce yourself."

"Alright," Gail pulled out her want and poked the parchment, "my name is Gail Forester, show me the map, please?"

It only took a few seconds for the map to respond, but not in the way she had expected. Words soon appeared on the paper. Gail quickly read it out loud.

"Mr. Moony thinks that Gail should keep her mind on keeping herself pretty and not pry into other people's business," Gail was slightly alarmed, but kept reading, "Mr. Prongs agrees with Mr. Moony, and would like to add that she has a wonderful chest."

Gail heard the marauders snickering, but she continued to read the parchment, "Mr. Padfoot would like Gail to know that she is the apple of his eye, but she shouldn't try thinking too hard as it will ruin her tiny brain."

Gail's eyes grew large when she read the final line, "Mr. Wormtail bids Gail good day, and suggests that she go snog a dragon instead."

The boys were laughing so loud that she couldn't hear herself say the last word of Wormtail's insult. Fuming, she spun around and punched James on the arm as hard as she could. That stopped the boys from laughing.

"So you think I'm just a pretty face with no ability to think for myself?" Gail threw the map back to Sirius, who was shaking his head.

"Gail, that was just a precaution," Remus wiped his eyes, "we wanted to see if it would work, and it did."

"So you're saying...?" Gail frowned at the boys, almost as red in the face as Lily could have been.

"It insults those that try forcing it to divulge information," James said, rubbing his arm tenderly.

"It picks insults that the intruder will find most offensive," Sirius explained, carefully opening the parchment, "see? _I solemnly swear that I am up to no good_... We just finished making it this morning. We were working on it all summer... and for a few years before that."

Gail frowned at the boys, and refused to walk any closer to them. Sirius was forced to hold the map up for her to see. Her eyes went wide when she saw a neat map of the school.

"Oh, I see," Gail frowned at them before shrugging. She was still a little sore from being called an idiot by a piece of parchment. At the moment, she was uninterested in their map. Sulkily, she walked away from the boys, "I'm going to bed."

She didn't notice the worried looks she got from Lily and the other Griffindor girls, and she most certainly didn't care about the looks she got from the marauders. She wouldn't tell anyone about their stupid, secret map, because it wasn't overly important to her.

* * *

**Author Note:**

Whoo! Chapter 18! Thanks for reading it! How was it? I was about fifty words away from causing huge drama... Oh, I'm not going to give away secrets, yet! -wink-

If you want to see pictures of my characters, my photobucket account is listed on my profile for your viewing pleasure.

Onto the deleted scene and comment gallery. Also, look for some trivia questions at the end of the comment gallery, for fun.  
-Rue

* * *

_Deleted Scene:_ **Five seconds from THE END.**

_[This almost happened... Uh oh]_

The boys were laughing so loud that she couldn't hear herself say the last word of Wormtail's insult. Fuming, she spun around and punched James as hard as she could. The other three boys wouldn't stop laughing, even when it looked like James' nose was broken. Gail quickly pulled out her wand and fired hexes at Sirius and Peter. She left Remus standing to look after his friend's injuries after he stopped laughing.

"I've never been this angry before," Gail said in a deadpan voice as she glared as Sirius, "Sirius Black, I _hate_ you. You make me sick. Why don't you go date a toad. It should be just right for you."

With that, she spun away and stormed back to the Griffindor tower. Every once in a while, she would mutter something akin to, "Lily was right."

When she finally reached the Griffindor tower, she threw herself onto the bed and sobbed unhappily. She soon found that Lily was sitting on the side of her bed, patting her head gently.

"You were right, Lily," Gail sobbed tears of frustration into her pillow, "he's an arrogant berk. He was j-just using me!"

Gail felt her stomach churn. Her blood felt like it was boiling. Throughout her tantrum, Lily didn't say a word and simply rubbed her back. Gail was feeling lousy two hours later. No doubt, she looked like trash. Her eyes were itchy and sore from crying, and what seemed like all the snot in her nose had run down her face. Her head was light from crying so hard, and not breathing enough.

When she finally looked at Lily, the look of pity on the redhead's face made her anger spark up. Gail knew she didn't have any reason to snap at Lily, though, so she kept her temper under control.

* * *

**The Comment Gallery**_  
Host: Gail Forester  
Special Guest: Peter Pettigrew_

Gail: Welcome to the Comment Gallery! I was busy working last time, so Sirius offered to host it in his house. Today we have a first; Peter has joined us by himself. Welcome Peter.

Peter: Thanks for having me, Gail.

Gail: The last time you were here, you were with the others, right? I'm glad you could come by yourself today. I'd like to ask you a few questions.

Peter: Oh? You want to ask m-me questions?

Gail: Yes. I was wondering about your girlfriend...

Peter: Oh! You mean the one that dumped me harshly?

Gail: Yes. Details?

Peter: Actually, I dated Amber Button for a while in our first year. She eventually dumped me when she realized that dating me wouldn't make Sirius notice her.

Gail: Ah, she was still like that back then, wasn't she?

-Peter looks quite sad-

Gail: Cheer up, Pete! We have reviews to read. The first is from _MaxRideRox_.

Peter: Yes, well, Sirius' wall has more than just reviews on it. He likes the muggle models that wear bikinis. He has quite a few of those, along with some witches on brooms [in bikini robes].

Gail: Interesting... So we had a muggle on the comment gallery. I'm going to have to question Snuffles about this... Anyway, don't worry about it, Max. I'm sure that the author just wanted to portray you as a normal Sirius-the-rock-god-stalker.

-Peter seems to cheer up a bit-

Peter: Oh, the next review is from _Wolfstar4_.

Gail: I'm no so sure about how 'epic' it will be. We'll have to see... Oh right, McGonagall couldn't police the last Comment Gallery because it was held at Sirius' house. She couldn't very well have shown up, could she? The Blacks probably wouldn't have liked that.

Peter: No, they're not very friendly. Sirius' mum is quite scary.

-There's an awkward pause-

Gail: Ah yes, our next reviewer is _Divakitty_. A first time reviewer! Thank you.

Peter: Yes, if you look at some of the Harry Potter books, Sirius calls himself Snuffles in letters to Harry.

Gail: What's that about, Peter?

Peter: Oh, that's just what the author told me to say.

Gail: Oh, I see.

Peter: The author also said that she would have to kill anyone who had too much information about the outcome of the story!

Gail: Hooo! Really?

Peter: I doubt there would be any real deaths, but I think a tickling charm could be arranged.

Gail: Ahh! So that's it... Erm, well... Thank you for the knowledgeable questions, but we'll be keeping the secrets, Miss _Kitty_. I really don't want to be tortured by the author for revealing too much.

Peter: I _siriusly_ doubt that Gail will ever find out anything. She's also too _slow_ to become an animagus.

-Gail seems annoyed, Peter laughs nervously-

Gail: Our last review comes from _Apocolips [anon]_. I'll try to explain our relationship simply without spoiling anything.

Peter: This might take a while...

Gail: For the most part, Sirius is supposed to be my boyfriend, but I can't help but relate his affections to that of a pet or a young child. He's like a kid that wants to hold hands all the time. I dare say that he's a bit possesive and guard-like.

Peter: And Sirius?

Gail: I think I'm just a "pass-time" to Sirius. Well, wait for the next chapter. I'm sure it'll explain more if you still have questions.

-Peter looks giddy-

Peter: Oh, next chapter is going to be fun. Hehe~

-Gail clears her throat-

Gail: Would you do the honors of reading our first Trivia questions, Peter?

Peter: Sure, the first one is about the ocs of the story: #1. _What's the name of Amber Button's boyfriend?_

Gail: And the second?

Peter: The second question is about canon information: #2. _What are the four insults that the Marauder's Map uses on Severus Snape?_

Gail: Wow, hopefully someone will be able to get those two. That's all the time we have for now. Send your reviews in! See you next chapter!


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Gail was annoyed for the next few days at the marauders. It got to the point that Gail would purposely avoid all contact. She "hid" in the large group of girls, who usually sat as far from James Potter as they could get. They had begun sitting at the opposite ends of the class because James would ask Lily out if he got within range of her. Generally, he was just being an annoying prat, but Lily was no better, because she would start throwing insults at him whenever he asked her out. There wasn't anything the Griffindor prefects could do, either. Avalon would just shrug whenever James and Lily had a row, and Remus would hide behind a book.

James Potter wasn't the the only annoying one of the group, either. Sirius had been trying to pull her aside time and again. For the most part, Gail had been successful in avoiding him. That was, until he appeared before Gail while she was walking down a hallway, giving her no warning. Gail would later remember that the map they had shown her let them see where everyone in Hogwarts was.

Gail glowered at Sirius, tapping her foot and waiting for the inevitable. He would apologize without meaning it and she would forgive him.

"_Orchideous_," Sirius said, conjuring flowers out of his wand. He held the bouquet of many different colours of Lisianthuses out for Gail to take, "I'm sorry, Gail. I didn't want your feelings to get hurt."

Gail stared down at the flowers for a moment, admiring the delicate petals on a purple Lisianthus. They were wonderfully conjured. Before she could stop herself, she scooped the flowers into her arms. Their smell filled her nose. She could feel herself smiling larger than she had smiled in the last few days.

"Forgive me?" Sirius' pleading stare started to wear away at Gail's annoyance.

"Yes," Gail mumbled, smiling down at the flowers in her arms. She was rather flattered that Sirius had apologized in such a flashy way, "consider yourself forgiven."

"So you'll stop avoiding me?" Sirius asked hopefully. Gail just just imagine a dog with his ears perked up. This caused her smile to widen even further.

"Yeah, fine," Gail laughed. Sirius looked quite relieved, "how's James been holding up?"

"Oh, he's holding on," Sirius half-laughed before continuing, "he has been making plans on how to corner Lily, and ask her out."

"Not going to work," Gail snorted, finding Sirius' arm around her shoulders, "Lily will hex him into next week if he tries it."

"Oh? I figured she'd at least put him in the hospital wing for a month, knowing her temper," Sirius joked. A faint smile flitted across his mouth.

They walked back to the Griffindor tower in silence. When they reached the common room, Sirius said something about meeting James. They made a date for Friday afternoon, in which Sirius would tutor Gail in Transfiguration. She doubted that anything Sirius had to say would help her. Trudging up the stairs to the dormitories, Gail found she was being stared at. It wasn't every day that someone had an armful of flowers.

"Oh, you got flowers," Amber squeaked, leaping up from her place on Avalon's bed. Avalon also stared over at her.

"Yes," Gail nodded dimly, "Sirius apologized for being a git on Monday."

Amber frowned, "why didn't he give you roses? There must be something wrong with him. Isn't a guy supposed to conjure red roses when he apologizes to his girlfriend?"

"Those are Lisianthus," Avalon said smartly as she finished shining her Prefect badge. For the first time Gail could remember, Avalon was wearing classes, "those symbolize calmness. I think they're more fitting for Gail's and Sirius' relationship. They're not exactly passionate enough to exchange roses."

Gail smiled weakly, "so you noticed? I don't think our relationship is going to last much longer."

Avalon snorted momentarily, "that'll relieve Jo."

"What do you mean by that?" Gail asked, eyes wide with curiosity.

"What she means," Amber explained slowly, "is that Jo has liked Sirius for a long time. I think she liked him from when they first met."

Gail's frown was soon swept away because she knew that Jo was more suited for Sirius. Their personalities would balance out. Gail smiled at the two blondes, "I see... So where are Lily, Jo and Melanie?"

"They're still in the Great Hall," Amber commented, "because they take too long."

* * *

That afternoon, stories about James Potter were being whispered in the common room. Apparently, he had used a Trip Jinx on Severus Snape in a very public place. The result was a duel between Snape, Sirius and James. Of course, with the two marauders working together, Snape had no chance of winning. Now it was "cool" to Trip Jinx anyone you came across. Just walking through the common room, she was tripped at least four times. It soon got so bad that entire hallways of people would just fall over from being tripped. This fad was all thanks to one annoying, messy haired marauder. It was funny until Gail's knees started getting scratched up. She had been tripped more than other girls in her year, and she could only wonder why.

She eventually caught a second year that had tried to cast a Trip Jinx on her. She cornered the boy, pulling her wand on him. He looked horrified.

"Is there a reason why you decided to trip me?" Gail asked, her voice completely calm.

"N-n-no!" The boy stuttered, his eyes fixed on her wand.

"Tell the truth," Gail said calmly, "and I won't hex you."

"You're really p-p-p-p-pretty!" He stuttered, "I w-w-wanted you t-to notice m-m-me."

"Oh?" Gail lowered her wand, "there are better ways of getting a girl's attention. Run along."

Gail rubbed one of her knees that she had scrapped when she fell. The second year ran away, rejoining a group of his friends, who treated him like a war hero for having the guts to hex someone who was at least three years older than him. Smiling wryly, she noted that they were a bunch of Griffindors who probably idolized the marauders.

Gail decided she wouldn't suggest that Lily go out with James at that moment. Out of spite, she would urge Lily to date other boys. James would not be able to get a date with Lily if she could help it. Revenge for her knees was necessary, and she would have it.

"_Spongify_," Gail pointed her wand at her knees, ensuring that there would be an invisible cushioned area there.

As she headed towards the History of Magic classroom, she was tripped three more times. It was lucky that she had taken the time to cast a cushioning charm, or her knees would have been completely torn up.

"Oh, Gail!" Lily gasped, staring down at the dusky haired girl's knees, "they've been tripping you, too? It's not even that funny."

"It's just a fad," Gail remarked, taking a seat next to the redhead.

"Fad," Lily spat, glaring at the front of the class like it was James Potter.

"I'm sure there will be a new, popular spell being used eventually," Gail remarked sleepily. She noticed the marauders enter the room, and offered a small wave to Sirius.

She was largely ignored, to her annoyance. It seemed like a group of students swarmed around the four boys like never before. There was a group of younger teenagers, who were most definitely not supposed to be in their history class. They were rather annoying and took up seats around the marauders. Peter was lucky to get a seat near James and Sirius, but Remus was not. The poor, pale boy was forced to look for a seat elsewhere.

He sat down next to Gail, offering the two girls a small greeting, "hello Gail, Lily."

"How's it going, Remus?" Gail asked calmly, "the crowd boot you out of your normal spot?"

Remus chuckled wryly, "it's like Prongs and Padfoot have new admirers, just because they hexed Snape for fun."

Lily continued to glare at the from wall and pursed her lips in annoyance. Gail remembered that she was friends with the slimy teenager, Snivellus.

"What happened to your knees, Gail?" Remus finally asked, his soft brown eyes examining the scuffs on her boney knees.

"Oh, I've just been tripped about fifteen times since lunch," Gail remarked offhandedly, "I had to use a cushioning charm to protect my poor knees."

"Apparently," Remus frowned, tossing a glance over his shoulder.

James was avidly retelling how he and Sirius had hexed 'Snivellus' until he cried for mercy. Of course, the story was a tad exaggerated, but it looked like his posse was hanging off of his every word. Sirius joined in every now and again to share the spotlight. He stopped talking when Binns entered the room, and he leaned his chair back on two legs.

"Giant prat," Gail muttered under her breath with a smile before turning to 'pay attention' to the boring lecture.

* * *

Friday afternoon came too soon. Gail felt a ball of anxiety churning in her stomach. She hadn't eaten anything since supper, the previous day. She couldn't help but feel exhausted and guilty. Of course, this was mostly because she would be forcing Sirius to have a down-to-earth conversation. Either things would go well, or they wouldn't. She had lost a lot of sleep that night over it.

Gail met Sirius in the common room and when she opened her mouth to speak, he cut her off.

"We need to talk, Gail," Sirius said calmly, "can we go somewhere private?"

Gail nodded slowly. She noticed that Sirius made no attempt to grab her hand, as he normally would have done. He kept his distance while he lead Gail down a corridor into an empty classroom. He made sure that no one could listen at the door by casting a silencing charm on it. He quickly moved into the center of the room and sat down on the desk at the front of the class. Gail followed him slowly, and sat across from him on one of the student tables.

"I don't think our 'relationship' is working," Sirius started, his eyes stoney and calm.

"No, it isn't," Gail agreed, forcing herself to keep the laughter from erupting out of her throat.

Sirius refused to say more, but Gail understood what he wanted to say, "I'm not the girl for you, Sirius. I knew that when I accepted your proposal."

He seemed to relax a bit, but he didn't say anything, so Gail continued, "I think we should just be friends."

"We were more like friends to begin with," Sirius said slowly, "only, I would force a few kisses on you."

Gail snorted, "a bit. Haha."

Sirius' eyebrows shot up, "it was a bit. Usually..."

"You're all over girls," Gail finished, "and can't keep your hands to yourself, but with me it was different."

Sirius nodded slowly, "I think I may have been using you."

Gail shrugged, noncommittally, "I was using you, too. Someone had to teach this ugly girl how to kiss. It might as well have been someone who would treat me as a friend first, right?"

Sirius sighed, "yeah, well."

"Sirius," Gail forced herself to smile at him, "it's fine, okay? I'm not going to cry about it."

"Why not?" Sirius glowered at her, "all the other girls cried over me. What makes you different?"

"You're like a pet dog, Sirius," Gail informed him, "I love you to a point, but not that way."

"You want to see dog?" Sirius grinned maniacally at her. Suddenly, a rather large ball of black fur had jumped from one desk to another and was on top of Gail, licking her face and hands. When Gail could finally focus, she saw a black dog sitting on the table next to her. Its tail was wagging happily, and there was a gleam in its grey eyes.

"You liar, Sirius Black!" Gail snapped at him, but she was unable to stay mad at him. Her hand itched to scratch behind his furry ears and around his collar.

"I'm not a liar," Sirius turned back into a human, "I just didn't want to tell you that I was an animagus. I'm not registered, it's highly illegal."

"Yes it is," Gail frowned at him, "so you became an animagus just for the hell of it? Do the others know?"

"Yes," Sirius smiled at her, "so, do you want some lessons on how to become an animagus? It'll still take you a few years, but we'll be able to save you time researching through the books in the library."

Gail debated for a moment, but finally nodded in agreement. Who better to teach her to become an animagus, right? She was quite glad that Sirius hadn't had a tantrum after they broke up. It was a huge relief for her that they could remain friends. She didn't need anyone else hexing her for fun.

"So where do I begin?" Gail asked calmly, watching Sirius with interest.

"You have to figure out what kind of animal you are. The fast way is to learn how to cast a patronus charm," Sirius instructed her, "because the two animals are the same."

"Really?" Gail stared at him, "but I'm probably _worse_ at Defense Against the Dark Arts than Transfiguration."

"Doesn't matter," Sirius grinned, "we can get Remus and James to help you with that, because they're both good at the subject."

"Okay," Gail agreed brightly, quite glad that Sirius Black was her friend.

* * *

Hours later, after Gail had been practicing the wand movements and incantation for the patronus charm, she returned to the dormitories. Everyone was probably in the Great Hall, eating. She was too tired to even think about walking all the way there. That was when it hit her. Perhaps Flink could come to the fifth year dormitories...

"Flink?" Gail called out, wondering if it would actually work, "Flink, I'm dying from hunger..."

There was a loud crack in the dormitories. The adorable, female house elf appeared before Gail. She looked rather worried, "oh no, Miss Gail! Hold on, I'll bring you something to eat!"

There was another loud crack and Flink was gone. In the time it take the house elf to come back, Gail had been thinking about roast chicken and freshly baked bread. Her stomach was rumbling quite loudly. When Flink appeared with a platter full of food, Gail bolted upright.

"Oh Flinkies!" Gail cried happily, "you're my savior! I love you, you're the best."

With that, Gail ate as much as she could quickly. Within minutes she was full, and the platter was empty. The house elf took the platter back and made it vanish. She quickly offered a smile to Gail before excusing herself.

"See you soon, Flink," Gail called after her, deciding to buy a thank-you gift in Hogsmeade for Flink.

The door swung open, and there stood Lily and Jo. Lily looked quite red in the face.

"You broke up with him?" Lily half shouted, a smile exploding on the redhead's face, "I knew you had some common sense!"

Lily rushed over to hug Gail tightly.

Jo just stood in the doorway, looking highly embarrassed by the scene. She seemed to be in a better mood than she had been in the last few weeks. Gail was glad to see that things between Jo and Lily were back to normal.

"Sorry Jo," Gail spoke over Lily's shoulder as she tried to worm out of the redhead's vicelike grip, "I didn't know you liked him. You should have said something."

Jo looked startled, "you broke up with him because of me?"

"No," Gail laughed before wincing as she heard her back crack from the brutally tight hug, "I broke up with him because we're not suited for one another. You better hurry and ask him out before he gets taken by another girl."

"We saw him snogging Melanie at dinner," Lily finally released Gail from the hug as she spoke, "that's how we knew you two weren't an item anymore."

Jo looked a little put-off, but at least she was being social with Gail again. The girls discussed boys for a while longer, until Avalon, Amber and Melanie came back to the dormitory. They decided to keep the majority of the information to themselves.

"Oh Gail," Avalon started, "Professor Dumbledore wanted me to give this not to you."

Avalon handed the note to Gail, who promptly read it and noted that she would have to meet with the man on Sunday. He wanted to check on her, no doubt, and make sure she wasn't any crazier than the previous year.

"Thanks Ava," Gail mumbled, tucking the note into her pocket.

* * *

**Author Note:**

Oh no! They broke up, but that doesn't mean that Sirius is lonely. I was waiting like a good little author to completely explain their relationship. Neither Gail or Sirius seem to care about the change in relationship, do they? Bwahaha~ I'm so evil.

I've been meaning to throw Amortentia into the story, but I haven't had a chance. **I'd like to know what you would smell in it, if you could smell it?**

I'd smell chicken soup, old books, and cologne.

Onto other, more important things...  
-Rue

* * *

_Deleted Scene_: **What if**...

_Dumbledore has used a time turner to go back in time and tell himself not to accept Tom Riddle into Hogwarts. He took proof of Riddle's future miss deeds and effectively convinced himself that Tom Riddle should have a magic-blocker placed on him so that he can't bully muggles with the bit of magic he has. Dumbledore returned to his normal time to find that no one had ever heard of Voldemort..._

It was early morning, two years after the birth of his son, and James was wide awake. His lovely, redheaded wife was still asleep in their shared bed. James threw his legs over the side of the bed, slipping his feet into a pair of old, striped slippers. Shocked for a second, James' foot touched his son's favourite squeaky toy. It took him only a second to rid his slippers of the toy.

Quietly, James left the room and headed down the hall to Harry's room. Gently, he pushed open the door and peaked into the room. Harry was fast asleep, and his eyes were moving quickly. A smile floated onto James' face when he saw the stuffed animal that his son was holding onto with one chubby hand. Padfoot had bought the miniature black dog for Harry's second birthday. James quickly closed the door to the bedroom and headed down the stairs.

Godric Hollow was quiet in the morning. The only things that changed were the seasons. The peace in the small, sleepy village felt like it would never break. This is what James hoped for, and was the reason why he worked with the ministry from time to time to catch dark wizards. He was always thankful that the dark wizards seemed to keep themselves separate and had no common goal. He could only imagine a horrible world where dark wizards worked together under one leader.

"James?" Lily's sleepy voice echoed down the stairs, "it's so early. Why are you up?"

"No reason," James called quietly up the stairs, "I just thought I'd make you breakfast in bed, my love."

"Oh, okay," Lily seemed to pause for a moment, "don't forget that Gail is coming today."

"I haven't forgotten," James smiled at his bleary eyed wife, his heart pounding wildly for her, "I'll get dressed after I cook you some breakfast."

James brought the breakfast upstairs for his wife about twenty minutes later. Lily, who was already dressed in her robes, ate it gratefully. She had been quite tired after planning Harry's second birthday party. Quite a few of both Lily and James' Hogwarts friends had shown up to the party, but to Lily's disappointment Gail couldn't make it. She was quite busy at the nursery the previous night. The explanation she had given Lily was that more and more werewolves were coming to her on full moons, and it was almost pure havoc trying to find a spot for everyone. From what Lily had heard, the newly invented Wolfsbane Potion was a great help. They could group werewolves in the same vicinity without them attacking one another now.

James had changed into his his normal robes when there was a knock on the door. Lily set aside the breakfast tray, and got up. The two went to the door of their cozy house and opened the door. Standing on the porch was Gail, who positively beamed when she reached out and hugged Lily.

"Oh Gail!" Lily returned the smile, "how wonderful of you to come..."

James, who had been staring at Gail's companion, questioned her jokingly, "oh, so you've brought a date to our house, Gail?"

"Well, isn't he welcome?" Gail asked, tossing a wink at James.

Lily beamed at her two guests, "I'm so glad you two finally started dating! How wonderful!"

* * *

**The Comment Gallery  
**_Host: Gail Forester  
Special Guests: Albus Dumbledore, James Potter, Mrs. Norris_

Gail: Welcome to the Comment Gallery. Today, Professor Dumbledore, James and Mrs. Norris are with us.

-Mrs. Norris hisses-

Dumbledore: I think she wants to leave the room, Miss Forester.

-Dumbles waves his wand and the door opens for Mrs. Norris, and then closes after her-

James: Wow, this is the first time I haven't been sent to the headmaster's office for pulling a prank. It's quite nice in here, isn't it?

-There is a twinkle in Dumbles' eyes-

Gail: Well, our first review is from _MaxRideRox_. Sirius is too busy staring at himself in a mirror to...

James: You know that's not true. He's too busy snogging whatever girl he feels like at the moment.

-Dumbles seems quite comfortable, although there is a large, awkward pause in the room. James is embarrassed that he talked about snogging with the headmaster in the room-

James: Er... well... Oh! The trivia answers!

Gail: Amber's boyfriend's name is really **Jeremy Watson**, a Ravenclaw. Good try, though!

James: And the insults on the marauders map were: **large nose, ugly git, idiot, slimeball/greasy hair**. But I do agree that "Lily will never love him" should be an insult on the marauder map. Good going.

Dumbledore: Have you been causing mischief again, Mr. Potter?

James: No, sir. I've been well behaved. You know me.

Gail: Sure~ James. Just keep lying through your clenched teeth.

James: Just get to the next review.

Gail: It's from _Collylocks_! Sorry, I was delaying dumping Sirius... So chapter 18 was a little slow.

-Gail wiggles her eyebrows-

James: And on the rebound...

Dumbledore: Miss Forester, you were dating Sirius Black?

Gail: Emphasis on the "was."

James: Er, the next review is from _oHmYgOdNoWaY_. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter!

-James beams-

Dumbledore: Your last review comes from _Apocolips_. Thank you for reviewing.

Gail: Lily does spaz, doesn't she?

James: SHE DOES NOT.

-Gail rolls her eyes-

Gail: James, Professor Dumbledore, would you two do the honors and ask the two trivia questions.

-Gail paints her nails-

James: Okay, the first question about the ocs is: #1._ Which Griffindors continued taking Care of Magical Creatures in their fourth year?_

Dumbledore: It seems that the canon question is mine: #2. _What does Hermione smell in Amortentia?_

Gail: Thank you. That's all the time we have for today. I will share my cookies with you if you _review_! OK GO! See you next chapter.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

Gail had spent most of Saturday looking throughout Hogsmeade for the perfect thank-you gift for Flink, the house elf. She had nearly given up hope until she found the perfect give for the cute little house elf. Gail decided to buy a little silver locket for Flink. Placed in the inside, Gail had an inscription about friendship made. Gail would let the house elf chose the picture to put in the locket. She paid close to twenty galleons for the necklace in the tiny jewellery story.

Hurrying out of Hogsmeade, Gail headed straight for the kitchens. She tickled the pear at the entrance and turned the large door knob. Flink rushed over to greet her immediately, smiling at her human friend.

"Hello Flink," Gail knelt in front of Flink, "I have something I want you to have, as thanks for the meal yesterday."

"Oh, Miss Gail," Flink looked slightly teary eyed as Gail handed the elf a small, velvet covered box, "you want me to have it?"

Flink opened the box to see the silver, heart shaped locket. She immediately fell the the ground in tears. It was amazing to Gail that she could talk while sobbing loudly, "oh, Miss Gail! You're so kind."

"Well, I couldn't very well get you clothes, right?" Gail looked a little nervous as she patted Flink on the back, "and jewellery doesn't count as clothes, so I thought it would be fine."

Flink blew her nose loudly in her potato sack clothing, "Miss Gail is really too kind! I can't accept this!"

"Don't be silly," Gail smiled fondly at the bright-eyed elf, "it has an inscription. I can only give it to my friend. You're my friend, aren't you?"

"Oh yes! Oh yes!" Flink's eyes became even more watery as she pulled the necklace over her brown head. Gail moved the chain, which had gotten stuck on Flink's ear. The little house elf finally opened the necklace and read the inscription. Tears seemed to pour down the little elf's face. She moved her finger over the empty side of the locket before showing Gail. She was surprised to see a picture of herself. She briefly wondered how Flink had been able to get the picture, but she was sure that house elves had their own magic to create moving images.

"Now I can keep Miss Gail in my heart," Flink said happily, through the tears, "thank you! Thank you!"

"No, Flink, thank you for always looking out for me," Gail smiled and hugged the house elf again.

It was time to leave the kitchen. Gail realized that she had a paper on the major uses and benefits of Transfiguration to do. She didn't have time to think about her break-up with Sirius, or the fact that he was an animagus, because the paper was due on Tuesday and she hadn't even started on it yet. She knew she wouldn't have time on Sunday or Monday, especially if she was forced to take more gross potions after her meeting with the headmaster. Gail waved at Flink and the other elves as she left the kitchen.

* * *

Two hours later, she had all but finished the rather easy paper for Transfiguration. She was rereading it and editing the paper where it was needed.

_The Practical Uses of Transfiguring Magic_

_By Abigail L. Forester, fifth year_

_Transfiguration is a division of magic that has a variety of uses. It is more flexible than other concentrations in that it can be used in a variety of situations. By transfiguring items and animals into necessities, the common witch or wizard may save time, effort and money. A person may save time and effort in regards to the search for the item. An example would be that transfiguring a boulder into a broom would take considerably less time than a summoning charm may take. In class, over the last four years, we have discussed various ways for a wizard or witch to use transfiguration magic, including for self defence, everyday life, and for emergencies._

_Throughout the ages, wizards and witches have been using Transfiguration spells to change their appearance to hide themselves. Powerful and skilled wizards have developed ways of turning themselves into both animals and inanimate objects in a last effort to protect and hide themselves from their enemies. Powerful transfiguration masters are also capable of using these skills to turn one item into another during a duel. Transfiguration is often used together with defensive spells to protect the user._

_During daily life, a wizard or witch may find themselves in need of a specific item. This is particularly useful when in the presence of muggles. An example of this would be that a wizard or witch would need a match to light a fire. It would be more discrete to transfigure a blade of grass into a match than to summon fire. Likewise, a wizard or witch may require a specific item to do a task that should be done by hand or with magic. A witch may require a needle to mend a rip in her dress, and could then transfigure a pin into a needle to accomplish this task. Transfiguration can be used to effectively save time, effort and money this way._

_In the event of an emergency, transfiguration is the best choice. Charms can be used to prevent accidents, unless used ineffectively. If the wizard or witch is trying to rescue others, and is in no danger themselves, the ability to transform items on hand can be quite useful. The textbook discusses a wizard that had a broken wand and attempted to conjure water, causing his house to fill with water. The use of transfiguration by the wizard's wife saved the man from drowning and easily removed the water from the house by turning one of the windows into a vacuum..._

Gail's report went on for a few pages as she argued for the use of transfiguration in different situations. It was becoming dark outside when she decided to pack her stuff up and leave the library. It felt odd to have spent hours in the library without being bothered by the marauders at all. The library still faintly smelt like the stink bomb that James had planted six days ago.

* * *

Gail found herself in the headmaster's office for the third time in her life. He was staring across the table at her with his focused, dewdrop blue eyes. He hadn't asked a word, but she assumed that he wanted her to talk. Strangely enough, he conjured some butterbeer for her to drink. He smiled peacefully at her while she sipped the drink.

"Well, Miss Forester, we have exhausted all of our methods of finding your father," Dumbledore finally spoke, "it's as if he's vanished completely."

"Sir?" Gail stared at him confusedly. She really hadn't expected him to put in any effort to finding her father. Once she started thinking about her father though...

"Yes, Miss Forester?" Dumbledore asked politely, tilting his head to listen to her.

Gail shifted nervously, her eyes glued to the wood of Dumbledore's desk. She didn't quite know how to tell the headmaster of the school that there was a large, empty place in her memories.

"Sir, I can't remember my father's face anymore. I can't even remember his first name," Gail remarked, quietly, "it's like the time I spent with him has become dull, almost like a black and white movie, after I took the potions..."

"I see," Dumbledore stared at her intensely, and she didn't dare look up from the desk, "it's quite possible that you have been possessed for much of your life."

Gail's eyes snapped up, and she took note of the sullen look on Dumbledore's face, "possessed by what, sir? Are you saying that someone planted fake memories in my head?"

"Possibly," Dumbledore nodded briefly, "have you noticed anything else after drinking the potion?"

Gail had to think for a moment about how to explain it, "well Sir, I can't stare at magic items."

"Oh?" The headmaster fairly leaned over the desk. She marveled at how he kept his beard from dropping into her butterbeer, "you can't stare at magic items... Is there a reason why?"

"Well," Gail tried to remember how if felt when she had stared at the portrait of the fat lady that one night, "it's like everything is brighter than it used to be, which isn't necessarily bad but... I feel that if I stare at things too hard they'll... Disappear."

"I see," Dumbledore stood up and paced back and forth behind his desk for a moment before turning back to Gail, "have you had moments where you could see things in the items, like the paintings?"

"Yes, sir," Gail responded, "in the paintings, there seems to be shadows in the wrong places, and if I stare hard enough, I can almost see something..."

"Ah, you must have a very rare gift," Dumbledore settled himself back into his chair, "you have the ability to see the spirits, or emotions, that have been placed in the items. The creators of many paintings in Hogwarts put pieces of their own souls into their works. It appears that you can see the effort and love that have been added into any item by a wizard."

Gail felt a little confused, but she continued to listen to Dumbledore explain about her gift, "such as this lovely carving of a lion. Can you see the 'shadows' in it?"

Gail turned her attention to the bronze figurine. She stared at it for a moment, and felt her eyes shift slightly and almost felt like she was sinking into the item the longer she stared at it. She could almost make out a face in the shadows of her mind. Before she could make out the face, though, her attention was brought back by Dumbledore, who had cleared his throat.

"Yes, sir," Gail nodded, turning her dark gaze back to the headmaster, "I think I can. I could almost make out a face."

Dumbledore tented his fingers and continued to talk, "this ability was discovered in ancient Greece, and was called called Pneuma sibylla. In more recent history, it's been called Pneuma optic. As I said, it's an extremely _rare_ gift. There are only two people recorded as having the same ability."

Dumbledore paused, allowing Gail to register the information he had just given her, "you will be able to see things that others can not see. I would like to warn you to stay away from any dark artifacts, for you would also be able to see the malice and the dark other emotions. It would also be wise of you to keep details about it secret from others, else you should find yourself a place in St Mungo's..."

Dumbledore's voice trailed off again. Gail was busy thinking about her newly discovered, and quite useless, talent.

"I understand that you might think it's useless," Dumbledore said mildly, a smile flittering on his face. Gail wondered for a moment if he had read her mind, "but it might just save your life... Not to mention the fact that dark wizards would give their left leg for such a skill as to be able to detect the strength and uses of all types of magical items with just a glance."

Gail nodded ruefully, "I'll keep it to myself, Professor."

"Good," Dumbledore smiled pleasantly, "now, I don't think you need to visit Madam Pomfrey again as you seem to be functioning just fine... But if you happen to remember anything about your life, please send me a note. If someone or something did possess you for ten years... Then it should be reported to the ministry of magic."

"Sir, might I say something?" Gail asked, feeling a little timid to offer her opinion on the matter. Seeing Dumbledore nod, she fiddled with the skirt of her uniform for a moment, "well, if it was malicious, then it wouldn't have let me come to Hogwarts, right?"

"Hmm," Dumbledore appeared to think for a moment, "perhaps it thought it could continue to control you while you were here."

"But... How?"

"You said your father was in the picture of the cat, did you not?" Dumbledore asked, standing upright.

"Yes, that's right. My cat, Mati, was a gift from... Him..." Gail stood up as well, "Mati!"

"Miss Forester, please remain in my office while Minerva and I collect your cat. We must check it to make sure that there isn't anything suspicious," Dumbledore held up his his hand to silence any protests that Gail might have made, "we will treat your pet with care, so please remain here."

With that, Dumbledore was gone, likely to find Professor McGonagall. It might take the two of them a long time to find the cat, who roamed around a lot. There were times when even Gail didn't know where Mati was. It might also take a while for them to be able to grab the cat, who was skilled as any rogue at running away when he was scared.

Hours ticked by very slowly. Gail soon became bored with waiting and started looking around for the headmaster's phoenix. Unfortunately, Fawkes was no where to be seen. Gail felt a twinge of disappointment in her stomach. She adored watching the brilliantly coloured bird, and wondered where he was. Fawkes had been in the headmaster's office every time she had visited before.

In order to distract herself from the huge amount of thoughts running through her head, Gail pulled out her wand and continued practising the wand movements for the patronus charm. Sirius had said to think of extremely happy thoughts while casting the patronus.

"_Expecto patronum_," Gail said dully, thinking about the time when Lily had rescued her. The tip of her wand became slightly silvery, but nothing else happened.

"I guess I don't have that many happy memories to rely on," Gail muttered to herself before trying again, thinking of the time when she first met Flink, "_expecto patronum_."

Again, the tip of her wand flashed silvery, but nothing formed. Gail was beginning to wonder if she was completely useless in Defence Against the Dark Arts.

The door to the office opened and Gail quickly shoved her wand back into her pocket. Before she could even turn around, Dumbledore had seated himself back behind the desk. He plopped Mati in front of him. Gail noted that the headmaster's hands were quite scratched up.

"Headmaster," McGonagall's voice sounded over Gail's shoulder. When Gail looked, she saw that the woman had several scratches on her face and hands, as well, "that is no ordinary cat. I should know."

"I noticed, Minerva," Dumbledore smiled pleasantly, "Miss Forester, your cat is extremely adverse to being picked up by both of us. We had to have Miss Evans pick it up for us."

"He's not usually like that, sir," Gail said stiffly. She made no movement to touch Mati at all.

"Yes well, whoever gave you this cat placed several powerful charms on it," Dumbledore stated, "he can not be summoned, can not be stunned, and can not be transfigured."

"He isn't an animagus, is he?" Gail asked softly, eyeing the silver and black tabby for a moment.

"No, Forester," McGonagall stated wearily.

"Then... Is he cursed?" Gail asked pointedly, feeling a little panicked about the whole ordeal.

"We will have to keep him for a while to determine what other spells have been placed on him. He may very well have a curse on him," Dumbledore stated calmly, "but for now, Miss Forester, please make your way back to the dormitories. Remember to send me a note if you remember anything."

"Yes sir," Gail nodded before allowing herself one lingering stare at her cat. She sincerely hoped that Mati had not been cursed, but she had a sinking feeling that her love of animals had put her in some kind of danger.

* * *

**Author Note:**

Oh, wasn't this chapter fun? I bet all of you are scratching your heads. Well, I'll clear a little something up for you: Pneuma sibylla means something like "spirit prophetess". The term was likely changed because it was highly inaccurate. The wielder of the power is not a prophet, she can merely see the parts of the creator's soul/emotions that have been added to a magical object. Things that don't affect her eyes: animagus, werewolves, transfigured animals from inanimate objects, and some plants, such as mandragora. [Different from Moody, who can see through objects with his eye, as well as detect spells.]

Of course, I'm going to leave you puzzling over why someone like Gail would have such a rare gift. And what her patronus/animagus is.

Onto the deleted scene and comment gallery!

-Rue

* * *

_Deleted Scene:_ **Wand types...**

Gail sat on the bench next to the window in the Griffindor common room. It was a bright morning, and she was fiddling with her wand, daydreaming in black and white about the day she received it...

_Ollivander loomed over her after she made the jars in his shop explode for the fifth time that day, "another one that won't work, eh? It seems like unicorn hair just isn't for you. We'll try a dragon heartstring one, now. Yes, I think I have the right one."_

_Gail was quite sure the man's hair had become more white simply over the course of her visit. When he returned with a case, he smiled down at the meek, plump girl, as he removed the lid of the box, "try this one."_

_Gail grabbed the wand with one of her podgy, little hands and gave it a flick. Her whole arm seemed to heat up. It was a pleasant, if somewhat overpowering, kind of warmth. The tip of the wand emitted pink and purple sparks. Ollivander looked quite pleased._

"_Cherry, 10" with a core made out of dragon heart string. Slightly rigid. Wonderful, wonderful. I was beginning to think no one would match up with that wand. Very good."_

"Gail?" A voice pulled her out of her daydream, "Gail!"

"What is it, Lily?" Gail asked, her dark eyes focusing on her redheaded friend.

"Why are you staring dreamily at your wand?" Lily asked her, ignoring the stares she was receiving from the couch, where the marauders had settled themselves.

"I was thinking about the time when Ollivander sold it to me," Gail responded, smiling faintly.

"Oh?" Lily eyed her suspiciously, before shrugging, "what, did it take you hours to find a compatible wand?"

"Back then, it wasn't really surprising that the wands didn't like me," Gail chortled, "I was so timid and bland back then... I'm glad this wand had enough courage for both of us."

"Your wand is courageous?" Lily's brows furrowed momentarily.

"Yes," Gail held up her wand, "he's semi-sentient, you know. You should respect your wand more, Lily, if you think they don't have personalities, because they do. Mine was a lion is his last life."

"Oh, haha," Lily snorted, frowning at her friend, "next you'll be telling me that you can talk with animals."

"That's no so strange, is it?" Gail laughed, "I could talk with animals, they might not respond though!"

* * *

**The Comment Gallery**_  
Host: Gail Forester  
Special Guests: Sirius Black, Remus Lupin_

Gail: Welcome to the Comment Gallery. Sirius and Remus have decided to join me today.

Remus: Hello Gail, how are things going?

-Sirius sulks in a chair far away from Gail-

Gail: Things are going just fine. Wanna read the first review?

-Gail ignores Sirius, the moody puppy-

Remus: Sure thing. It's from _MaxRideRox_.

Gail: I'm not sure about having a boyfriend any time soon... I have so much to do; between studying for O.W.L.s, becoming an animagus, worrying about what Dumbledore said... I just don't have time for it all!

Remus: Don't worry, we'll be helping you.

-Remus pokes Sirius in the side-

Sirius: Some people would do anything for me.

-Sirius seems to be more cheerful, and even winks at Max. Gail rolls her eyes-

Gail: You see why things don't work out between him and me? YOU SEE?

Remus: Calm down Gail. Look, there's another review from _oHmYgOdNoWaY_.

Sirius: The author writes a chapter a day, so she updates quickly. She could write two chapters, but it wears her out.

Gail: You like the smell of a stable? With or without the animals in it?

Remus: Honey dew smells good though, so we won't knock you there.

Sirius: You should be smelling me.

-Sirius goes back to sulking-

Gail: Well, the next review is from _Apocolips_. First of all, we are a bunch fifteen year olds. We're not really serious- _don't even start, Sirius_- about any relationship we enter. I don't know what else to say... Remus?

-Remus become Professor Lupin for a moment-

Remus: What we have here is a case where they like each other based on outward appearances. Both of them didn't really have anything in common, aside from some respect for each other and being in the same house.

Sirius: That's true. Basically, I dated Gail to annoy my mother- and it worked. I got a howler each day I was at Hogwarts telling me not to get comfortable with a mudblood.

Remus: And to top it off, they have similar "cool" personalities. When Sirius gets bored with things, he looks for newer, better things.

Gail: That's so true...

-Gail laughs-

Remus: I think this chapter explained why Gail is the way she is. She's not emotionally matured enough to have deep romantic feelings that will make her want to hold onto a relationship.

Sirius: I had to force kisses on her. Now that's just not right.

Gail: It's true, I was never the instigator for kissing.

Remus: I think that explains most of their failings. The author might have to rewrite part of it if a bunch of people still don't understand. Now let's talk about how BAD the actor is that depicts James in the Ootp movie.

Sirius: The SMIRK! And his hair is wrong!

Gail: When did "messy hair" get translated into "perfectly flat- looks like it's been brushed and combed and flattened- hair"?

-The three are saddened by such a thing-

Sirius: While the others are distracted, you hit the nail on the head, _Apocolips. _Somehow, I always want the things I can't have. I thought she'd be interesting, but it was a bit of a flop, right?

-Sirius clears his throat-

Gail: Oh right. The trivia answers. BOYS!

Remus: The Griffindor students that continued on in Care of Magical Creatures in their fourth year: **Gail, Lily, Jo, Sirius, James and I.**

Sirius: Hermione smells smells **fresh cut grass, new parchment, spearmint toothpaste** [and Ron Weasley's hair, for the geeks that stalk anything HP].

Gail: Okay, now for today's trivia questions.

Remus: This one has no right answer, it's opinion based! Marks will be based on how well you argue your point: #1. **In your opinion, which female Griffindor student suits Sirius Black the most? (Avalon, Jo, Amber, Melanie, Gail, or Lily.)**

Gail: Hehe... Remus will be grading your answers!

Sirius: #2. **Name Voldemort's horcruxes and how they were destroyed.**

Gail: That's all for now. Keep sending in your reviews if you have questions. We'll do our best to answer them. See you next chapter!


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

"So what were you doing in Dumbledore's office for two hours?"

A month after her talk with Dumbledore, James and Remus finally had the time to pull her aside to help her learn how to cast a Patronus Charm. Peter had tagged along with the other two marauders, likely because he was bored. They had explained that Sirius was too busy snogging Melanie to make an appearance. Apparently, Sirius had discovered 'playing' with girls was the easiest way, aside from getting detentions, to stick it to 'the man'. Gail was sure that they were using the tutoring session as an excuse, when they really wanted to know was why she had spent close to three hours, mostly alone, in the headmaster's office.

"Why were Dumbledore and McGonagall so frantic about catching your cat?" Remus asked calmly.

Gail felt like her voice was stuck in her throat. She wanted to tell Remus everything. He had been such a good friend to her when she was in need. Even though he had been somewhat distant with her while she was dating Sirius, Remus still deserved some explanation. It took Gail a few minutes to explain how Dumbledore thought she had been possessed and whoever had done it might still be able to control her through Mati. She didn't mention her Pneuma sight, simply because of its uselessness.

"Wow," James scratched his chin, "so that's why you acted so emotionless back in first year."

Remus nodded. Gail noticed little frown lines on his face when he spoke, "emotional unresponsiveness is really common in people who have been under the Imperius Curse for long periods of time. But for so much of your life..."

James frowned and ran a hand through his black hair, as if the ensure that it was perfectly messy, "so that means we, all of the people in Hogwarts, have been teaching you..."

"As if I was a toddler, yes," Gail commented. Her face showed that she was confused by the fact that a wall had been formed between her life before Hogwarts and the rest of her life. There was a nagging sensation that she'd forgotten something but when she tried to remember, it would become totally to her.

Remus raised a hand to pat her shoulder, hesitating only for a split second, "don't worry about it too much, Gail. It's best to live in the now."

"Wormy," James piped up, startling the pointy nosed kid, "put this cloak on and pretend to be a dementor."

"But James!" Peter gaped at the long black cloak that James was holding up for him to take, "w-won't it hurt?"

"Wormy," James frowned at the boy, "you know a Patronus won't hurt you."

Peter looked rather pink in the face, and he laughed nervously as he pulled the cloak on. Gail thought that looked like the least scary dementor ever. Even with the hood of the cloak up, she really couldn't picture Peter as being a dementor. At least Remus would have been more scary, because he was a good head taller than Gail.

"Wooo..." Peter wriggled his arms, attempting to be scary.

It took the other three a good ten minutes to stop laughing at Peter. Straightening up, Gail wiped the tears out of her eyes. When she finally caught her breath, she smiled at Peter.

"Pete, dementors don't sound like ghosts," Gail advised him.

"They wheeze," James added, between bursts of laughter.

Gail smiled fondly at the boys and pulled out her wand. Even when Peter looked perfectly nervous with her wand pointing at him, she still attempted to bring out a patronus charm.

"_Expecto patronum_," Gail said clearly, making her normally ruby wand light up silvery. A few flecks of silver shot out the end, but that was all.

"You're performing the spell right," Remus remarked, nodding at her, "Sirius showed you?"

Gail nodded, "yes, he showed me how to do the wand work and how to pronounce the incantation."

"I thought so," Remus smiled softly at her, "but it looks like you don't have a happy enough memory in your mind when you try it."

"What do either of you think about when you cast it?" Gail asked, wondering what kind of memory she should be thinking about to bring forth a patronus.

"I think about a variety of things," James remarked, puffing out his chest like he was important, "but the memory that gives me the strongest patronus is when I got into Griffindor and my dad sent me a letter saying how proud he was of me."

"I see," Gail found that bit of information rather useless, but she supposed that James had been elated that he could make his father proud of him, "what about you, Remus? Peter?"

Peter looked startled that she asked him, he stared down at his feet and went quite red in the face.

"Peter still can't do a full patronus," Remus remarked quietly, patting the smallest marauder's shoulder sympathetically.

"Oh," Gail rubbed Peter's shoulder, "sorry Peter."

"S'ok," Peter mumbled.

"Er- anyway, try thinking about your happiest memories," Remus instructed, "and if you can't find any- er- happy memories, try thinking happy thoughts."

"Alright," Gail conceded, turning her wand back onto Peter, who was a lot more relaxed now. Gail focused on thinking about working with dragons, hippogriffs and other creatures for the rest of her life. To be able to play with the different creatures... The idea made her chest warm.

"_Expecto patronum_!" Gail was amazed when a silvery bird leapt out of her wand. The creature was tiny, compared to Sirius. The bird spun through the air, under Gail's direction. It seemed to have an aura of bliss around it. It had taken every spare moment of Gail's time to learn how to summon the Patronus, but she had finally done it. There was just a problem identifying the bird.

"Isn't it obvious what kind of bird it is?" Remus joked with her after she made a remark about having to research the type of bird, "it's a nightingale; a melancholic singer."

"Well done, little birdy," James ruffled her hair up affectionately, "knew you had it in you."

Gail gently shoved him away and made an attempt to straighten her hair up, "don't even think about giving me a stupid nickname, Potter. I refuse to be called "Flightwing" or something equally stupid."

"I figured your patronus would have been a dragon," Peter remarked chipperly, "or maybe a hippogriff."

"Yeah right. Gail isn't flashy," James laughed, "so Gail, what's the reason for learning a patronus so quickly?"

"It's for work," Gail commented airily, "I've been thinking about trying for a the Defence Against the Dark Arts N.E.W.T. to round myself off a bit more, you know."

"Oh, don't even try that with me," James said impatiently, tapping his foot on the ground, "who do you think _invented_ lying... Tell me the real reason."

"The fifth nursery needs all full time employees to become registered animagus," Gail finally spoke quietly. She was resentful that she had to tell them about how hard she would have to work, since working hard was 'uncool' in most cases, "because they take in wayward werewolves on full moons."

Gail expected a larger reaction from the three boys, who just adopted knowing smiles.

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" James prodded her, wearing a cheeky grin.

"Sirius told you already?" Gail asked shooting a glare at Peter for no reason, just to make him stop grinning like a idiot.

"We forced it out of him," Remus responded pleasantly, "before we agreed to tutor you. You do know how dangerous werewolves are, right? They're not cute, harmless puppies."

Gail shrugged, "why should I care how dangerous a creature is before I've even met one?"

Remus' smile faded and was replaced with a frown, "maybe you should reconsider your future plans. You could be killed..."

"I've known for a long time where my place will be in the future. The fifth nursery needs my help," Gail returned Remus' frown, "if I can help, even just a little bit..."

"What can you do?" Remus was on his feet instantly and his eyes were daring her to prove him wrong, "what can you do for the werewolves when you don't understand them at all. What can you do against those Death Eaters; those bad people that are always in the news? You won't be able to protect your group of creatures once You-Know-Who decides he wants them, alive or dead."

James seemed a little shocked at the turn of the conversation. Even Peter had dodged into hiding at the first sign of Remus' temper. The two of them stood as onlookers during the little spat, too stunned to do anything. James looked a little guilty, but his lips were pursed together. He likely wouldn't take a side in the arguement.

Gail stood up, as well, "I will do what I can, Remus. I have almost three years to learn what I need to know, but I wouldn't expect you to understand _me_."

With that, Gail got up and left the room without looking back. She heard James' voice for a second. It sounded like he was trying to get Remus to calm down.

* * *

Gail wasn't the only one in the Griffindor dormitories that was in a bad mood. Lily looked extremely blotchy in the face as well. Neither one of them said a word for a long time. Minutes ticked by, and Gail was already starting to feel better. She decided to try consoling her redheaded friend.

"What happened, Lily?" Gail finally asked after a moment of debating how to approach her friend.

"It's Severus," Lily moaned, "he won't listen to a word I say about his friends, and I'm worried for him. He's really gotten into the wrong crowd lately."

Gail would have rolled her eyes, if she hadn't known that Lily was completely serious about anything around Severus, her childhood friend, "and you tried telling him that his friends were no good?"

"All he wanted to do was throw mud at James Potter," Lily said in a frustrated tone.

"That's understandable from his perspective," Gail commented, "James has been targeting him more often as of late... Along with other people."

Lily took a deep breath. She looked better after throwing the demon off of her chest. She finally looked over at Gail, "what happened to you?"

"Had a row with Remus," Gail said shortly, "he didn't like how my future job would be dangerous or something ridiculous like that."

Lily's mouth formed an "o" but her expression was somewhat guarded, "maybe he's just worried for you."

"Hmph," was Gail's only reply. She refused to justify Remus' behaviour with a response. Sure her job was dangerous, but she capable of handling herself, and she would become more experienced until she could even handle a full grown dragon... She hoped.

In the time that Gail was off, daydreaming about dragons, Amber and Jo had returned to the dormitories. Amber was looking positively excited when she greeted Lily and Gail.

"I have something to show you," Amber said proudly, "get over here, before Avalon comes in and confiscates it."

Amber pulled a brilliant, heart shaped vial out of her bag, turning her back to the door. The vial was filled with a vibrant potion.

"Amortentia!" Lily gasped, staring, "Amber, that stuff is highly dangerous. What are you planning on using it for?"

"I was thinking about slipping Sirius some- for Jo," Amber snickered upon seeing Jo's face flush, "but I don't think I'll use it. I sorta just like how it smells."

"What do you smell?" Lily asked quietly, "in the potion? It changes between people, depending on likes."

"Shoe polish, brown paper and mint hard candies," Amber responded happily, handing the vial to Lily, "what about you, Miss Evans? What do you smell?"

Lily took the cork out of the vial. Spirals of smoke trailed out of it, and Lily closer her eyes and took a deep breath, "tanned skin, shampoo and a smell that reminds me of the dusty shed in my back yard."

"Oh!" The girls all stared at her for a moment before Lily handed the vial to Jo, who took a deep breath.

"Cinnamon, musky cologne and dried leaves," Jo said calmly, "and something I can't describe."

Jo handed the bottle to Gail, who felt a little nervous. She gently held the glass vial and took an unsteady breath in. It was like nothing she ever smelt before. The gentle smell hit her at once. At first she couldn't really determine the different smells until she focused, "the forest when it's damp, I guess, new textbooks, butterbeer, and a hint of something bitter."

The other girls were staring at her until Amber spoke incredulously, "you like how the forbidden forest smells?"

Gail could feel the temperature in her face increase, "yes. The forest is quite nice after it rains and some of the water has soaked into the ground."

"Gail likes the smell of wet ground," Amber jokingly prodded the tawny haired girl as she took the vial of Amortentia back.

"Don't tease her," Lily chided, "we all have smells that we like."

"Says you, miss dusty shed," Jo teased Lily a little bit, a spark of glee floating in her dark eyes.

"I don't know if you can talk, Jo," Gail smiled pleasantly at the dark haired girl, "you described exactly how Sirius smells."

"She totally did," Amber agreed with Gail, "he has this amazing cinnamon scented shampoo..."

Jo went totally red from her forehead to her shoulders. She didn't say a word; she was too embarrassed.

* * *

**Author Note:**

This chapter was brought to you by the great outdoors. I took my macbook outside to work, and it's nice and sunny. Ahhhh~ Wonderful. I think I got a sunburn...

Finally, I've been planning on having the Amortentia part for a while. Girl talks are fun.

I've decided to continue the deleted scene from chapter 19. Hope you remember what happened!

-Rue

* * *

_Deleted Scene:_ **What if... [part 2]**

_Lily beamed at her two guests, "I'm so glad you two finally started dating! How wonderful!"_

James sighed and stared back and forth between Gail and Remus, "I was just a little bit shocked that the two of you showed up together. Come in, both of you."

Gail had already followed his wife in through the door. They were chattering about things that only women could understand. Instead of following them, James turned his attention to Remus Lupin, who was standing awkwardly just inside the entrance.

"Moony! Come in! My home is your home," James laughed, "but my wife is not your wife."

That brought a smile to Remus' face, "good, because it wouldn't do to be cheating on her with Gail. Listen, Prongs, I..."

"I know," James took his friend by the shoulder and kicked the door closed behind him, "you two have been making eyes at each other since our seventh year. Did you think I wouldn't notice?"

"What about Sirius?" Remus asked, nervously running a hand through his prematurely greying hair.

James laughed, "he's been thinking of settling down with Jo... You remember her, right? The dark haired girl that was on the quidditch team? She was in our year, too."

Remus nodded, "I'm glad Sirius finally found a girl that could put up with his whims."

"Wormy and I figured that Gail was the one," James laughed momentarily, forcing Remus to take a seat in the living room, "but that just shows how wrong we were."

"Oh James!" Lily came running back into the room, "look what Gail bought for Harry!"

James looked at the golden orb that his wife was holding. It looked exactly like a snitch, but was quite a bit bigger. Its size was probably so that a child, like Harry, wouldn't be able to fit it in his mouth and swallow it. The little wings on the snitch made the ball fly slowly around Lily. James grabbed the golden ball, noticing that the ball was squishy and cloth-like in texture.

"Wonderful!" James laughed, "we'll make a seeker out of Harry before his eleventh birthday."

Gail had joined the others in the living room, "Sirius said he bought Harry a toy broom for his last birthday, so I thought he'd like a snitch to play with... Since he takes after his father."

Lily flushed at the comment. She was still quite horrible at riding a broom, and preferred to apparate around. Even after marrying James, who was a wonderful flier, she still hadn't learned how to control a broom properly. James had been quite happy that his son hadn't taken after Lily, in those regards.

"Thanks you, Gail," Lily gave her friend a brief hug, "I'm sure he'll love it."

James heard the Child Charm go off, alerting him that Harry was awake and wanting out of his crib.

"Oh, Harry's awake," James handed the ball to Gail with a wink, "I'd better go let him out."

* * *

**The Comment Gallery**_  
Host: Gail Forester  
Guests: Lily Evans_

Gail: Welcome to the Comment Gallery. It seems that our reviews have vanished! What happened?

Lily: Don't worry about it, Gail. I'm sure people were just too busy or something yesterday.

Gail: Right. So it's totally not my fault if this Comment Gallery is short.

Lily: So the only review is from _MaxRideRox_. We didn't really have the boys mark your answers, but thank you for doing the trivia questions.

Gail: I knew you would say you were the best with Sirius, but I'm thinking that Jo is probably the best option...

Lily: That's if she can overcome her nerves and ask him out.

Gail: True. Ah, and yes, _Max_ got the Horcruxes right. Good going, mate.

Lily: So Gail...

Gail: Yes, Lily?

Lily: What do you want to do tonight, Gail?

Gail: The same thing we do every night, Lily; try to take over the world.

-Lily laughs-

Gail: So...

Lily: Trivia questions: #1. _Can you name any of the Christmas gifts that were exchanged?_

Gail: Trivia questions: #2. _What's the Potter's vault number?_

Lily: That's all for today, right Gail?

Gail: Yes. Thanks to the one review for making this section possible. I'll also take the time to thank everyone for putting this story on their alerts and favorites. Thank you so much.

Lily: Bye bye~!


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

"Happy birthday, Gail!"

Gail was awakened by a presence on her bed. When she opened her eyes, she saw Lily staring back at her. The other four girls were standing around her bed with identical grins on their faces, as well. It was a Saturday morning. She had been so worried about Mati and busy with everything else going on that she had forgotten her own birthday.

"Your birthday _is_ the thirteenth of November, isn't it?" Avalon asked quietly, "you're sixteen today."

"Yeah," Gail grumbled. After she rubbed her eyes sleepily, she noticed just how tired the other girls looked, "you didn't have to get up so early. We have all day to celebrate, you know."

Lily clucked her tongue, "no, no. We're going to make sure you have a really good day. We didn't celebrate last year..."

"Or the year before that," Melanie added bluntly.

"Or the year before that," Amber mimicked Melanie before swatting her friend over the back of the head, "that was rude, Melanie, you don't have to bring up how much of a loner Gail was..."

"It's fine," Gail laughed, noticing that the others laughed with her, "those weren't exactly the best years of my life. So... Presents?"

Lily's hand shot out first as she handed Gail a little red and gold box, "here. I hope you like it."

Gail opened up the box and found a matching pair of silver earrings with dangling red beads. Gail faintly heard Lily mentioning that she had charmed the beads to change colour based on the wearer's mood. What stunned the birthday girl, though, was the fact that her ears were not pierced.

"Thanks Lily," Gail said weakly, setting the earrings aside. The next gift she opened was a bigger box from Jo and Amber, who had collaborated for the present. Gail opened the box, expecting something like a pair of socks. Instead, she was surprised to see one of the beauty items from Hogsmeade.

"No Pain Puncture," Gail read the box, "will pierce ears without a problem?"

Gail looked up at the two and gave them a grateful smile, "thanks! Now I'll be able to wear the earrings Lily got me."

Gail wasn't really surprised that Avalon bought her a book, called _The Giant Book of Knowledge; Magical Creatures Edition_. The book was filled with information and stories about creatures that couldn't be found elsewhere. Each creature also had several illustrations and photographs to depict the information. Gail was looking forward to reading the thousand page book later.

Melanie also gave Gail pair of gloves that looked like sock puppet animals. They were extremely cute, wool mitts. There wasn't anything special about them, aside from their appearance, though.

"Let's pierce her ears," Lily commanded after Gail had finished thanking the other girls for the presents. Jo had taken the ear piercer out of its box, and had attached it, and the earrings, to her wand.

"The box says to just point my wand at her," Jo pointed her wand at Gail, "and say "_insertius_"... Oh look, it worked. Neat."

Gail reached a hand up, feeling the difference weight on her ears. The earrings had been embedded into her ear lobes without any pain at all. A look of surprise must have been written on Gail's face. The other girls were chuckling at her.

"They look good on you, Gail," Lily reassured her, "nervous yellow?"

"Oh HAHA," Gail snorted, running the tip of her finger over an earring, "well, now everyone will be able to tell how I'm feeling, thanks to Lily's clever charm work."

* * *

Gail spent the rest of the day being pampered by the other girls. Flink, the house elf, had even brought some food up to the common room and had stayed long enough to wish Gail a happy birthday. Gail found herself the owner of a large box of Flink's best chocolate chip cookies. She had carefully stashed the cookies away.

The party in the common room started during the evening. Many of the Griffindors didn't even know what they were celebrating, but they helped themselves to a piece of cake and a butterbeer anyway. Gail was disappointed that Sirius was too busy snogging his date to wish her a happy birthday, as James and Peter had. She was all the more disappointed that Remus didn't even show himself in the common room.

Gail hadn't spoken to Remus since they had argued. She had deliberately chosen a different seat in Astronomy, instead of sitting next to him. There had been no chance to reconcile their differences elsewhere. As it was, she wasn't totally sure why he was upset with her for wanting to work with the fifth nursery, but she knew that they couldn't see eye to eye when they disagreed about her job choice.

"Don't worry about Moony," James patted her on the shoulder, "he's just not feeling well. I'm sure he would wish you a happy birthday if he was up to it."

"Yeah!" Peter piped up. His face was red from drinking too much firewhiskey, and his speech was slightly slurred, "he already regrets arguing with you, you know."

"Really?" Gail asked hopefully, "is he in the boys dormitories?"

"Er- no, I think he went for a walk," James lied, refusing to meet Gail's gaze.

"He went for a walk when he's not feeling well?" Gail asked, glaring at him.

"No, he's in the- mmrph," Peter had been about to tell Gail where Remus really was, but James' hand prevented the mousy, little teenager from finishing it.

"He went for a walk to the hospital wing," James said calmly, "you'll be able to see him Monday, okay?"

"Fine," Gail snapped before walking away from him. The crowd of Griffindors was so thick that it took her a few minutes to find Lily. The redhead had become quite good at masking her presence by hiding in a crowd.

"So?" Lily asked impatiently, pulling Gail along behind her, to avoid James. He was looking for her, but Gail knew that he wouldn't find Lily unless she wanted to be found.

"We're going to the hospital wing," Gail said to her friend, "I want to apologize to Remus for not respecting his worries and opinions. I acted like a git..."

"Fine by me. We have a few hours before our curfew," Lily looked at the clock in the common room, "we should be able to make it there and back in plenty of time."

It took the girls a while to make their way to the hospital wing. Right as they reached the door, Lily stopped Gail from pushing it open.

"Remember the last time we were here?" Lily asked her quietly, "you looked like... well, trash."

"Sleeping in a cupboard'll do that to a girl," Gail responded before pushing the doors to the infirmary open. She didn't hear Lily laugh shortly behind her.

Gail slowly walked across the room to the only bed that was occupied. Remus sat on the edge with his legs draped over the side and his back to the door, "hello? Remus?"

Remus' head swung around and he looked quite surprised. Several candles had been lit in the hospital wing and under their light, Gail could see several scratches on Remus' neck. The boy looked pretty put-out when his surprise melted away. He didn't say a word, and the atmosphere between the three students slowly become oppressing. Lily finally made a sound of annoyance.

"Fine, I'm going back to the common room," Lily snapped, "come find me when you make sense, Gail."

With that, Lily stormed back out of the hospital wing. She had effectively left Gail alone with the one person she wasn't sure she wanted to be alone with. The silence after Lily's departure was even more stifling than before. Gail couldn't bring herself to look at Remus, and she was sure that he wouldn't make eye contact either.

"I heard you weren't feeling well," Gail finally mumbled. She was quite glad that it came out as a coherent sentence. The last thing she wanted was to say something stupid, like 'I heard feeling well you weren't.'

Gail saw Remus nod briefly out of the corner of her eye. Courage. That's what Griffindors had, right? She quickly turned her head and let her dark brown eyes drop onto his face. He looked extremely pale. There was absolutely no doubt in Gail's mind that he had been sick, but the marks on his neck were definitely not caused by a human.

"Remus?" Gail finally asked, "were you attacked by something?"

A wry smile floated to Remus' face, "funny you should ask. Yes, Gail. A werewolf attacked me."

Gail felt dizzy for a moment, and her next question came before she could even think about it, "during a full moon? Oh Remus..."

"Yes," Remus pointedly snorted, "I wouldn't attack myself if it wasn't a full moon, now would I?"

It finally made sense. Gail had always been slow, but it might have surprised Remus just how slow she was. She should have know what Remus was by looking at the pattern of his sickness, how pale he was, his boggart and Remus' telling her to be more cautious around werewolves. Gail finally understood that he would know first hand how dangerous a werewolf was. Gail's earrings, at that moment, shone silvery blue, the colour of sympathy, in the light of the candles. She could feel her stomach drop.

"You can't tell anyone," Remus finally said spitefully, "unless you want me to be kicked out of Hogwarts."

"When have I ever told any of your secrets, Remus Lupin?" Gail snapped at him. Taking a deep breath, she sat on the edge of the bed, next to him, "I'm not scared, you know."

"You should be," Remus was staring at her, his eyes looked slightly wild in the candle light, "even I'm scared."

"Sorry," Gail said quietly, staring at her feet, "but I'm not. Not of you at least. I've never seen you become a werewolf."

It suddenly dawned on Gail. The night that had been sleep walking to the lake, she had heard Remus howling, and Sirius had scared her away as best as he could. Assuming that was the case, the fighting she had heard afterwards was Remus and Sirius. She didn't say a word about this to Remus, though, as it would probably.

"Who else knows?" Gail asked quietly, "Sirius does, right? That's why he became an animagus."

"James and Peter," Remus remarked, "oh, and Snape."

"What?" Gail stared at Remus as if she had been confounded, "why would you tell someone like Snape?"

The wry smile returned to Remus' face, "I didn't. Sirius did, sort of. He told Snape how to get into the Shrieking Shack, where I transform. If it wasn't for James, I probably would have killed or infected Snape."

Gail had scooted over, next to Remus so that their shoulders were touching, "that was very brave of James, wasn't it?"

"Oh, not as brave as Snape. Both James and Peter are animagi, so they don't have anything to fear from me when I transform," Remus remarked. He seemed a little shocked by how close Gail was sitting with him.

"So I won't have anything to be afraid of when I become an animagus, right?" Gail had just proven her point, not that it made her feel any better.

"I don't know why you'd want to help werewolves," Remus said pointedly, turning his face away from her.

It took Gail a moment to register that he was embarrassed, "we provide a place for them to transform where they won't be able to hurt or infect anyone else, including themselves. Maybe if we, wizards, looked after werewolves more... well, maybe the infection would disappear completely."

"Hmm..." Remus sighed and shook his head.

Gail frowned at the back of Remus' head, "I think it's a wonderful idea. If all of the nurseries did the same."

Remus finally nodded in understanding, "fine, I'll help you become an animagus like the others... Since it doesn't look like you'll be giving up your dreams."

"Ha!" Gail gently poked the werewolf in the side, causing him to glare at her, "I want to work with all kinds of creatures. If that means working with a few werewolves and dragons, all the better for me."

Remus' only response was a grumble. For a moment, Gail considered the idea that Remus' emotions became more volatile around the full moon, but she had no way of proving it.

"I knew something good would happen on my birthday," Gail said cheerfully, leaning against Remus for a second, as she normally would, "thank you, Remus."

"For what?" Gail noticed his awkward smile. He stiffened slightly when he spoke quietly, "I should be thanking you..."

"Sissy," Gail laughed, launching a tickling attack on Remus' left side.

"Stop that!" Remus cried, holding his hands up in surrender, "I'm very sore today."

Gail snorted, but she was honestly glad to see that Remus had cheered up somewhat, "sore, my foot. You just want to mope around about your problem."

"Oh yes," Remus laughed, "you know me so well..."

"Visiting hours are over!" Madam Pomfrey finally rushed into the room to escort Gail out. Huffing, Pomfrey slammed the doors of the Great hall in Gail's face.

* * *

The day after her birthday party, Gail found herself marching towards her head of house's office for a meeting. She had an appointment, like all of the other fifth year students, to discuss her job aspirations in the future. Of course, it was rather obvious to most people that Gail would be working with animals...

Gail rapped on the door to McGonagall's office with the backside of her hand. Hearing a faint call for her to enter, Gail pulled open the door and stepped into the office. The door seemed to close itself behind her.

"Have a seat, Forester," McGonagall commanded, looking at her. Gail was glad that the Transfiguration instructor was not grumpy at such an early hour in the morning. She took a seat in front of the desk.

"Have you given your future job any thought?" McGonagall asked shortly.

"Yes," Gail responded equally quickly, "I plan on continuing to work for the ministry's Fifth Magical Creature Nursery. I've already completed the two year of internship with them."

"I see," McGonagall paused for a moment. It took her a while to fish the right pamphlet out before reading it, "Herbology, Charms, Transfiguration and Care of Magical Creatures. All of your instructors have states that you work hard enough to pass your exams. It seems like your marks are decent enough in all of the required classes, Miss Forester, but you may need to work harder in Charms."

McGonagall handed the pamphlet to Gail, "I don't take anyone into N.E.W.T. level Transfiguration below an E, so watch your grades carefully and work hard. Is there anything else you'd like to ask about?"

"Well," Gail fished out the note that her supervisor had given her, "I'd like to know how to register as an animagus. It's one of the fifth nursery's requirements."

"Forester, you are definitely not at that level of Transfiguration yet," McGonagall seemed to stare down at Gail for a moment to see if she would flinch, "but I suppose if you work hard enough, you may be able to start learning how to become an animagus by the time you graduate. When you are able to completely transform yourself back and forth, you must inform the ministry. They will send someone to your home and test you. Now, is that all, Forester?"

"That's everything," Gail agreed, "thank you for the help, Professor. I'll do my best to improve in Charms."

Gail left the office feeling positive about her ability to pass her necessary O.W.L. exams.

* * *

**Author note:**

I finally did it! That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Gail finally knows that Remus is a werewolf... But I don't think she understands why wizards are so discriminatory against werewolves. [I don't either. Magic Wolfie?]

The story is now officially AU. Get out while you can [if you hate AU stories]... Because from now on, my evilness will commence.

I've been thinking of doing away with one of the additional scenes, so I think this'll be _the last deleted scene_, except on special occasions. This means longer chapters, for those of you that don't read the deleted scenes.

-Rue

* * *

_Final Deleted Scene:_ **What if... **_[part 3]_

James carefully walked down the stairs carrying his precious cargo. Happily tucked away in his father's arms, Harry made no movement to escape. As a father, James was proud when Harry greeted Remus and Gail with a coo, instead of crying. Lily had often said that it was odd that Harry never made strange with the friends of his parents.

"Happy Birthday, Harry," Gail smiled gently at the bending over so that she could be at Harry's eye level, "gee, you grew so fast. The last time I saw you..."

"You work way too much," Remus laughed at this, "the last time you made time to visit Harry was just after his first birthday."

"I can't help it that he's always asleep when I come over," Gail baulked at Remus, but her sweet smile didn't fluctuate at all.

"Here, hold him for a second," James handed his son to Gail, "I'm going to grab his broom."

"Oh, Harry's the _terror_ of the sky, huh?" Gail cooed sweetly, using a free arm to tickle the boy's stomach. Remus smiled quite sadly behind her back, not wanting to show such a pained expression to his newly acquired girlfriend.

James dug through the cupboard for half a minute to find the toy broom that Sirius had bought the previous year. In triumph, he brought the broom back into the living room. Upon seeing his dad carrying his favorite toy, Harry's squeaked and held out his arms.

"Da! Boom!" Harry squealed happily at his approaching father.

"Yes, you get to ride on your broom today," James took Harry back into his arms and set the child onto the broom.

Within minutes, little Harry was zooming around the room trying to catch his new, cloth snitch.

"He's gotten better at not running into things," Remus remarked, causing James to beam proudly at his son even more, "and it helps that the snitch avoids contact too."

"So cute," Gail settled herself on the couch next to Remus, "it's just too bad he doesn't have red hair like Lily."

James opened his mouth in protest, but Lily beat him to it, "are you kidding, Gail? I think Harry's hair is just adorable."

"Oh?" One of Gail's eyebrows disappeared under her bangs, "so Lily was the one that chose the name?"

Lily giggled and sat next to her friend, "oh, we chose the name because he was born with more hair that the rest of the babies. Right, dear?"

James nodded, looking away from his son only for a moment, "hairy Harry."

"And his middle name is James, as a joke. Hairy James," Lily smiled fondly, before a look of shock crossed her face.

Harry crashed his broom right into the wall and fell off. James rushed over and checked his son for any damage. Luckily, Harry just giggled. The impact hadn't hurt him at all, since the broom had a charm on it to cushion a child if they fell off.

"Pow," Harry giggled, staring up at his father before reaching his hands up, "aden."

"Again, Harry?" James scooped his son up and placed him back on the broom, "just don't fly into any more walls."

"Wee," Harry giggled, again he was following the cloth snitch around the room.

* * *

**The Comment Gallery**_  
Host: Gail Forester  
Special Guest: Severus Snape_

Gail: Welcome to The Comment Gallery. Today, Snape has stopped by to make every girl's heart... er stomach throb out of sickness.

Snape: Mature, Forester.

-Snape sucks the fun out of the room-

Gail: You're only here because you want to make a good impression on Lily. I have no reason to be nice to you.

Snape: Enough of the pleasantries, Forester. Get to the point.

Gail: Fine. The first review today is from _MaxRideRox_. Yes, you were the only review yesterday. Thank you, thank you. Er, anyway, the christmas gifts that have been exchanged in this story include; _Sirius got a howler, socks, muggle magazines, sweater; James got a sweater, chocolates, pocket watch; Gail got a bracelet, squeaky socks, muggle ring, book. In the deleted scenes, Gail gave Jo and Lily flower pins. _

Snape: The Potter vault is, in fact, _687_. Congratulations on kicking the Black habit.

Gail: Oh... My... Merlin... Snapey just make a funny.

-Snape pointedly stares at her-

Gail: Okay, so our second review is from _Apocolips_. Thank you for the review.

Snape: The author is still lazy. I could easily write ten thousand words in the space in which she writes three thousand. She needs to write smaller.

-Gail rolls her eyes-

Gail: You're only saying that because you're prejudiced against muggles.

Snape: I can't help it that wizards are born with more talent than muggles.

Gail: Sure. You call it talent to rely on magic for everything? Oh, I just thought of a good question: Why does You-Know-Who kill muggles when muggleborns are supposed to be more dangerous, as they're "thieves" of magic?

Snape: It's simple, really. Muggles are actually wizards who have strayed from the path. They're like squibs that have forgotten their magical heritage completely.

Gail: So they are punished for the mistakes of their ancestors? Isn't that a little harsh?

Snape: It's not like the Dark Lord kills all of the muggles he sees.

Gail: No, he wants to make them into slaves like house-elves.

-Snape clucks his tongue quietly-

Snape: That's enough, before you become labelled as a blood traitor.

Gail: And there you have it, folks. I win one for muggles everwhere. That's the comment gallery for today, because I don't want to spend any more time with this slime ball.

Snape: The feeling is mutual.

Gail: See you next chapter. Here are the trivia questions:

**OC #1. Pick a character and list the classes they're taking. Hint: Gail has 8.**

**Canon #2. Which Harry Potter book leads Dudley to believe that his cousin isn't a waste of space?**


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

"The next step is the longest."

It had taken quite a long time to rip Sirius away from whoever he had been snogging. James had been able to help Gail quite a bit in explaining how animagi work, but Sirius was the better teacher in the area. Gail just couldn't understand things when James explained them and he was becoming rather impatient with her. He had said something about Peter needing the other three marauders to explain the second step to him, because Sirius got fed up with how slow Peter was too quickly. That was the problem with having him act as a teacher; he was a lot less patient than James.

Sirius was brilliant in explaining the theory behind transforming into an animal, though. He should have been able to explain it to Peter easily, because even Gail could understand. Sirius explained that a specific state of mind was needed, much the same as apparition. A deep understanding of the laws of transfiguration was also needed.

"So when you transform you have to think about your animal," Sirius was explaining, "and you have to will yourself to take that form, while recalling the rules, diagrams and everything else. Of course, that's only the first few times. Afterwards, you should be able to become an animal with very little effort, because everything else becomes subconscious."

Sirius handed Gail a stack of notes that were thicker than most of her textbooks. The handwriting changed periodically between pages, as if three people had been writing the different parts. Each page was literally full of diagrams and simplified notes. Gail's eyes bulged slightly. She had to read and memorize all of it?

"It's a lot easier than it looks," Sirius stated flippantly, "just memorize one page at a time."

Gail gulped, turning over the first page, "Merlin, it's back and front!"

James laughed, "it was the only way we could fit it all in."

"If this is the second step," Gail frowned, her eyes tracing the words on the page, "I don't want to know the third step."

"The last step is the easiest," Peter piped up, "practice! Transform, hold, transform back. Transform, hold, transform back."

Gail stared at Peter. If he thought it was the easiest, then it likely was. Nodding to Peter thankfully, she stared down at the book. At that moment, she wished for Lily's skills with memorizing things, or at least Lily's ability to use memory charms to improve her brain functions.

"We'll leave you with this light reading," James grinned at her, "there's a group of Hufflepuffs that are saying they'll win the Quidditch Cup this year... Coming, Padfoot?"

"Yeah," Sirius left the library quickly, not even turning his head back to say goodbye.

Peter trailed along after the James and Sirius, practically hero worshipping the ground that they walked on.

"Bye Gail," Remus said quietly. She was glad he was going with them, at least he could get them to stop if the joke went too far. The marauders left like a storm taking a mass of students, who were interested in watching some Hufflepuffs get hexed, with them. The library was a few notches quieter after they left.

Gail went to work reading and attempting to understand the notes that she had been given to read. For the most part, she could understand them quite well because they were simplified for someone, like Peter, to use. The diagrams and side notes also helped shed some light on the more difficult points. She was able to cover the first few pages, which were quite introductory, without any problems. She had even memorized the first page, since it was mostly a review of first year Transfiguration.

It was becoming later in the evening. Gail had to pack her stuff up quickly if she was going to make it back to the common room before hours. Even so, she took precautions with the precious notes. Under the table, she ripped the cover off of her old Transfiguration textbook and placed the notes into it. She bound the cover to the notes with a permanent sticking charm. Gail also took the time to cast an anti-staining charm on the notes, in case her ink bottle exploded in her bag again.

As she was walking down the hallway, towards the Griffindor common room, Gail realized she had run out of luck. A group of Slytherins blocked her path down the hall. Evan Rosier was staring at her with a pair of vicious eyes. Behind him stood Mulciber, Avery and a rather reluctant looking Snape.

"No one to protect you today, Forester?" Rosier called, grinning wickedly. Avery and Mulciber snickered rather maliciously behind him, "no Potter to cling onto?"

"I don't remember Potter being there the last time we spoke, Rosier," Gail responded, "I seem to remember stunning you quite easily."

That was the only provocation Rosier needed. He pulled out his wand, which his lackeys imitated, and he snarled, "I've gotten a lot stronger, Forester. The Dark Lord welcomed me into his ranks."

"And yet you still can't get yourself a girl, huh?" Gail taunted him. She had pulled out her own wand, too, but it wouldn't do any good against four Slytherins, who were more experienced with dueling than her.

"_Expelliarmus_," Snape said lazily, causing Gail's wand to fly out of her hands. She was quite thankful that he hadn't put much effort into the spell; she was still standing. The other boys weren't going to let their beef go at that.

"What's the matter, blood traitor? Where are your friends now?" One of the Slytherins taunted her. Gail wasn't overly sure how she had become known as a blood traitor instead of a mudblood.

"_Sectumsempra_," Rosier cackled wickedly, cutting randomly at Gail's torso, "oops, wouldn't want to hurt your pretty face, would we?"

"_Tarantallegra_," Avery added. This forced Gail's legs to start jiggling and jiving. The wound on her chest were extremely painful. Blood stained the front of her uniform and bled through her robes. Gail felt her mind becoming more fuzzy because of the pain and the loss of blood. She felt like laying down, but because of the dancing hex, she couldn't.

Mulciber finally cancelled Avery's spell with a quick "f_inite._" Gail fell to her knees, straining to keep her mind from blacking out. She slowly reached a hand towards her wand. She just about grabbed it when Mulciber laughed darkly and flicked his wand, "_crucio_."

Pain ripped through Gail's mind body. She lost focus and blacked out for a moment, to her relief. She gained consciousness again after the unforgivable curse had been lifted from her. She faintly heard the Slytherins laughing at her.

"Someone's coming," she heard Snape say before feeling someone kneel next to her.

"If you tell anyone what happened," Rosier sneered, whispering into her ear, "we'll find you and make sure you never talk again."

Gail felt a cloak brush her back and her hand. Retreating footsteps echoed in the hall and eventually faded away. Not half a minute later, Gail heard approaching footsteps from a different direction. Gail was in so much pain that she couldn't even lift her head to greet whoever was approaching her. The last thing Gail felt was a strange, tickling sensation.

* * *

She woke up in the hospital wing. Blearily, she opened her eyes. The infirmary was unnaturally bright. It took Gail a few moments to realize where she was, and a few more moments to realize why she was there. Her chest no longer hurt, but her mind felt foggy. When she finally sat up, she spotted her wand on the bedside table. Her bag had been hung on the corner of the bed. She was thankful that whoever had picked her up and thought to bring her stuff.

All of it did very little to help her headache, though. It felt like a goblin was having a tantrum in her head. She had to admit that the Slytherins had outdone the marauders in terms of pain. She was in more pain than she had been after being locked in the cupboard during her third year.

"Miss Forester, you're awake," Madam Pomfrey came bustling towards her, holding a tray of potions in front of her. Gail frowned, she really did not want to drink any of it. Pomfrey sat the tray on an empty spot on the bedside table.

"While you're drinking this, I'm going to apply the dittany salve to your chest and stomach to remove any trace of the cuts," Pomfrey explained, drawing the curtains around Gail's bed closed.

"I could do it, Madam Pomfrey," Gail muttered, "I can reach it."

"Nonsense," Pomfrey scoffed, "now off with your top."

Gail frowned unhappily and removed her shirt. She felt better that Pomfrey was a woman... Instead of focusing on how embarrassed she was, she focused on drinking the potions that Pomfrey handed her. She finished just about six different potions by the time Pomfrey had finished applying the salve and had wrapped a bandage around her torso to keep the salve from rubbing off. Gail quickly pulled her shirt back on.

"Can I leave now?" Gail asked hopefully.

Pomfrey stared at her, "no, you had better stay here and rest for today. Your chest, stomach and arms will be rather tender for a few days."

Gail frowned and slumped back into the bed. She wasn't tired any more, after she had slept for a relatively long time. Instead of 'resting' as Pomfrey had said to, Gail pulled out the animagus notes. Time seemed to fly by quicker when she was busy, anyway.

"Gail!"

Her head snapped up quickly, and she closed the book and tucked it under the pillows. Lily Evans came running into the hospital wing, looking absolutely horrified to find her friend in there. Gail found herself in a tight hug before she could even greet the redhead. Jo shuffled towards her bed, quite a bit slower than Lily.

"Careful, Lily. Madam Pomfrey just fixed my scrapes up," Gail said weakly, attempting to push Lily off.

"You!" Lily backed off, long enough to smack Gail, "you promised that you wouldn't let-..."

"It wasn't the marauders, Lily," Gail pointed out, "it was a bunch of Slytherins... I didn't think Rosier would remember the run in I had with him last year."

Jo frowned, and settled herself onto Gail's other side, "Rosier? Isn't he one of Snape's friends?"

Lily looked shocked and she opened her mouth to protest Snape's involvement, as usual. Instead, Gail raised her hand to stop her, "Snape was there, but he wasn't the worst. If anything, I could thank him for calling the others off."

"Sev wouldn't join in. He wouldn't do that. I know he wouldn't," Lily protested, glaring daggers at Gail and Jo.

Gail sighed, "he disarmed me, Lily. Get over the fact that the two of you have highly different ideas of fun."

Lily seemed to sulk for a moment when she grumbled, "it's the others, Mulciber and Avery, they've been a bad influence on him."

"Look," Gail finally pointed out, "I'm fine and that's what matters. At least I'll get to miss double History today. I just wish I knew who brought me to here. I'd like to thank them."

"We just heard a rumour that you were here," Jo pointed out, "we're not even sure who brought you here. You didn't see them?"

"No," Gail shook her head, looking quite perplexed, "I was really out of it."

"Maybe it was one of the professors," Jo suggested.

Gail shook her head, "I doubt it... I think I'll just have to be a bit more careful and not walk around later in the evening by myself."

"You aren't the only one that was attacked, either," Lily finally spoke up, "Mary Macdonald was in tears last night, too. Apparently, Mulciber threw a few bad hexes at her. It shook her up a bit, but I heard that Potter helped her out."

"Mary?" Gail asked. She hadn't ever met a girl by that name, that she could remember.

"She's a third year," Jo explained quietly, "still not good with names, are you Gail?"

"Not really," Gail smiled weakly, "point her out to me the next time you see her."

Jo agreed lightly, "look at the time, Lily, we'll be late for History."

"We'd better go," Lily did her best to smile for Gail, but it turned into more of a grimace. Gail was sure that the redhead would likely confront her little oddball of a friend. The argument would probably set Lily off for a couple of hours. Gail was just glad that she would miss the fight while she was in the hospital wing. Lily was quite scary when she was mad.

Gail had just settled into reading the notes again when the hospital wing doors opened again.

"Skipping class, boys?" Gail asked, tossing a weak smile at them.

"How life?" Sirius asked, throwing himself on the foot of her bed.

"Not bad," Gail gave the boys the 'what did you do' look, waiting for them to explain.

"Nothing," James smiled peacefully, "we definitely didn't hex Avery, Snape and Rosier, and we most definitely did not hex Mulciber for picking on a third year Griffindor- all while Remus brought you to the hospital wing."

"I had a feeling that you four chased them away," Gail smiled before turning her dark eyes to Remus, "thanks, Remus."

"I wish I could have gone with them," Remus said quietly, his tone quite bitter, "you were so pale and bleeding. It was horrific."

Gail laughed nervously, and did her best to change the topic, "how's Mary? What spells did they use on her?"

"We're not sure," James said slowly, "Mulciber used some pretty bad spells on her, but she didn't want to come to the hospital wing."

"We got him," Sirius laughed like he was barking for a moment. Gail noted the hint of danger present him his grey eyes. She was touched that Sirius and the other boys had been worried about her.

"Tsk!" Madam Pomfrey came bustling back around, shooting dirty looks at the four boys like she knew that they had sent a lot of others to the hospital wings, "visiting during class hours? Tsk tsk. Off with you boys, now. I need to remove Ms. Forester's bandages."

As the boys left the hospital wing, they bid Gail good bye, promising to bring her back something good from the kitchens the next time they visited. With a flick of Pomfrey's wand, Gail's bandages found their way out from under her clothes. She then poked Gail a few times with her wand before summoning a potion bottle.

"This will relieve your discomfort," Pomfrey said, "drink the whole bottle and then go back to sleep."

Gail took the bottle in her hand and took a sip. She was delighted to find that there was actually a potion that tasted fine. Within moments of drinking the rest of the potion, the aches and pains in her body were gone. When Pomfrey darted away, Gail pulled out her notes again and began to read again. She didn't even notice that someone had snuck back into the hospital wing.

"A bit obsessed with that, aren't you?"

Gail looked up to see the Remus staring at her with a cheerful look on his face. He didn't say a word and just drifted over to her bedside, "everything making sense to you?"

"So far," Gail returned his smile, "I'm really just on the beginner part... I'm sure it'll become more difficult."

Remus continued to smile thoughtfully at her for a while, not saying a word. The moment was tranquil, like there was no one else in the world. For some reason, her chest seemed to squeeze. Gail felt quite uncomfortable and she couldn't understand why, nor could she understand why Remus wasn't saying anything.

"Alright Lupin?" Gail teased him gently, patting the side of her bed in invitation.

Remus obliged, and Gail noted that his ears were a little red. He nodded in response, "everything is fine, Forester."

"Why didn't you go to class with the others?" Gail asked quietly.

"I was worried," Remus said lightly, his tone was pleasant enough, even if he wouldn't look at Gail.

"I see," Gail tried to catch his eyes, "and why would the bookish marauder be worried about little Gail?"

Remus seemed to hesitate with his answer for a moment before he spoke. His voice was quite hoarse, as usual, "I saw what the Slytherins did to you, the others didn't."

"Oh, I see," Gail chuckled lightly, "it wasn't anything that Madam Pomfrey couldn't fix, Remus. There wasn't anything to be worried about."

Remus looked a little pained, "you could have died, Gail. The cuts on your chest were deep..."

"I'm a lot tougher than I look," Gail stated firmly.

"You sure are," Remus bumped his shoulder against hers gently. For a second, Gail felt his hand brush hers. That was all it took for her stomach to leap into her throat. She thought for sure that Remus would take hold of her hand, just like Sirius used to, but instead he retracted his hand. Gail was sure that earrings Lily had given her would shine a dark colour. For whatever reason, she was disappointed. Her disappointment soon faded, because Remus rested his shoulder against hers, like she had done when she found out that he was a werewofl. Heat seemed to spread from the point where their shoulders were touching. Gail could feel her heart fluttering a little bit faster.

"So tell me," Gail started quietly, "do you go adventuring with the others on full moons? In the Forbidden Forest?"

Remus looked a little shocked at the question, but he nodded slightly, "yes, but don't tell anyone. Prongs and Padfoot are big enough to control a big furry problem."

"Or scare sleepwalkers away," Gail added pointedly. Remus didn't seem to catch it. He didn't say a word.

* * *

**Author Note:**

Okay, so Gail hasn't been in the hospital wing for a while. This was a rather fun chapter. I just finished watching the first two Harry Potter movies. I really love the Basilisk. So cool.

I really have run out of ideas for the Deleted Scenes. I'm going to try and make each chapter a bit longer, so that more time will be covered. Fifth year is so important in the grand scheme of things...

Thanks for continuing to read my story.  
-Rue

* * *

**The Comment Gallery  
**_Host: Gail Forester  
Special Guest: Professor Kettleburn, Hagrid_

Gail: Welcome to the Comment Gallery. Today, Professor Kettleburn and Hagrid are here.

Kettleburn: Hello, Miss Forester. Good to see you.

-Hagrid waves shyly-

Gail: Yes. You haven't made an appearance in quite a few chapters. How have you been?

Kettleburn: Quite well, thanks to Hagrid lending me a hand. He's been a huge help.

Gail: I'm sorry that I haven't been able to help you out as much this year.

Hagrid: Tha's how it shoul' be. Ye focus on yer exams.

Kettleburn: Hagrid is right, Ms. Forester, you should be focusing on your O.W.L.s. They're quite important.

Gail: Yes well- Let's read a review, shall we? First one is from _DivaKitty_. Oh, I totally forgot that school was starting earlier in different countries. The author's school doesn't start until September 7th. Oops.

Hagrid: James and Lily ain' due for a while yet. They still seem t' dislike one another...

Kettleburn: Voldemort isn't due for a while yet, either. Last time I read the Prophet, he was still sneaking around and collecting followers.

Gail: Shush, don't give too much away! The next review is from _oHmYgOdNoWaY_. Yes, I like Remus, he's a good person.

Kettleburn: I don't think they meant it that way.

Gail: Ahem. Well...

-Gail shifts nervously-

Gail: T-the next review is from _Apocolips_. Last chapter was the last Deleted Scene, but I think the author might be planning on posting a different story to showcase the cleaned up versions of the Deleted Scenes, and any new ones the author might decide to write. They just won't be present on each chapter anymore.

Kettleburn: The author needs more room to fit Remus/Gail moments.

-Gail turns very red in the face-

Gail: That's all the time we have today. Thank you for reviewing. See you next chapter.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

It had been a week since Gail had left the hospital wing. She had spent much of the week being followed around by Lily, who was feeling very protective again. It didn't help that the redhead was still quite hurt by the fact that Gail had been disarmed by Snape, and he had stood back and allowed his friends to 'torture' her. Lily had put so much trust in him and effort into giving him a clean name, his betrayal must have been a huge shock to Lily.

Severus had tried to approach Lily a few times, looking to apologize for his behavior. For the first few times, Lily had just grabbed Gail's arm and walked away from him. Eventually, he started following them around, and Lily was forced to listen to his apology.

"You're no better than Potter, Sev!" Lily had shrieked; she didn't care how many people were eavesdropping on the conversation.

Snape looked quite distraught by the comparison that Lily had made. He fervently shook his head, "I didn't mean to..."

"To what, Sev?" Lily hissed, "Gail looked like she was an inch away from death-..."

"Ahem," Gail, who had been silent through most of their conversation, "might I add a word to this debate?"

Severus looked appalled by this, but it was really Lily that would have the final say. The redhead nodded her head in agreement.

"First of all, I don't think Snape could have stopped the other three if he had wanted," Gail pointed out to Lily, "it would have still been three against two, if he had said anything. Most importantly, he called them off... late, but he still did. Cut the boy some slack, Lily, he showed more restraint than Potter. It's unfair of you to compare the two of them."

Snape looked relieved, and opened his mouth to speak, but Gail continued talking, "and you, Severus Snape, I thought you would have more brains. Lily obviously wants you to apologize to the person that you caused harm to first. Go on."

Grudgingly, Snape looked from Lily to Gail before resigning to his fate, "I apologize, Abigail Forester, for my poor conduct. It won't happen again."

"Your turn, Lily," Gail turned to Lily impatiently, "apologize to Snape for blowing this out of proportion and almost squandering your friendship."

Sulkily, Lily stared at the ground while she mumbled, "sorry Sev."

The mood seemed quite sour, even after the mutual apology. Gail briefly wondered if she had overdone it by forcing Lily to apologize as well. Her worries were nullified, though, when she glimpsed Lily smiling at Snape, who looked rather nervous. At Lily's beaming face, Gail found herself smiling gently. Snape also tried to smile, but his face just contorted weirdly.

"Look what we have here, Padfoot."

Snape whipped his wand out quickly. He was met with two wands at his throat. James did not look happy and Sirius was grinning quite maliciously.

"Easy there, _Snivellus_," James quipped, "wouldn't want to scare the girls, would we?"

"You okay, Gail?" Sirius asked, his grey eyes shifting to examine her, "this git isn't doing anything to bother you?"

Gail frowned, dismayed by Sirius' behavior. She hissed quietly, "down boy."

Lily wasn't as patient with the two boys as Gail was. Her face was slowly becoming more red every moment and her lips were pursed together.

"That's enough," Lily finally exploded, "go away, Potter. Unless you want us to call our Prefect friend that WILL stick you with a detention."

James looked flabbergasted at Lily for a moment. His ears seemed to glow red. He didn't say a word, but his nostrils flared a little bit. At that moment, Gail noted how James looked when he was angry. His speechlessness was kind of a shock, and it was also quite charming how quickly he got flustered by Lily's threat. Only Lily wouldn't view it that way.

The two, Lily and James, seemed to glare daggers at each other for a moment before mutually deciding to bluster off. James took Sirius with him, and Lily grabbed Snape. Gail was effectively left standing alone in the hallway, wondering what had just happened. She didn't know whether to be happy that things were settled peacefully, or if she should be mad that they had completely forgotten about her.

"Oh, Gail!" Remus and Peter hurried up to her, "have you seen Padfoot and Prongs?"

"You just missed them, sorry," Gail examined Remus. He seemed to be in a chipper mood, and his face shone more than normal. This was probably because the new moon was tonight. It was Remus' best night of the month, when the moon was not visible at all. Gail had started tracking the phases of the moon, out of interest more than anything else.

Gail turned to look at Peter, who had some crumbs on his face, "Peter, you have something on your face. Here, let me get it."

Reaching a tanned hand over to the smaller teenager, Gail brushed the crumbs off of Peter's face. He went quite pink, but looked pretty pleased when he spoke, "thanks Gail."

"James just got in a fight with Lily," Gail commented dryly to Remus.

Remus smiled knowingly, "and they both rushed off and left you here?"

"Yes, but hopefully Lily will be over her protective phase again. I might finally have time to memorize more of the notes..." Gail stated thoughtfully, "so is there a reason why you need the terrible duo?"

"No particular reason," Remus said pleasantly, "walk with us to the common room?"

"Sure," Gail walked between the two boys. She turned her attention to Peter, "so Peter, you memorized the notes in three years?"

"W-well, yeah," Peter stuttered, "James and Sirius helped me a lot while I was reading it through, because my m-memory is pretty bad... I always get teased about it."

"Aw Pete," Gail patted the boy's head, "you just need to have some confidence in yourself."

"And to stop cheating off of others," Remus said mildly.

Peter looked aghast, "I do not cheat, Remus!"

"He just has a problem with wandering eyes," Gail fondly patted Remus' arm as if she was consoling him, "it's a problem in his genes, you know. There's nothing we can do about it."

* * *

Within the next few days, people had begun using Engorgio for fun. The craze had started the same way as the trip jinx. Several Griffindors had seen a very foul tempered James Potter use the on a Ravenclaw to make the kid's feet extremely large. Every hour after that, several girls would have to run to the bathroom because of their embarrassment. Apparently, having embarrassing parts of their bodies enlarged was quite upsetting to some girls. Gail had been hexed a few times, but it was an easy enough spell to fix.

"Gail," Lily said impatiently, "are you listening?"

"Huh, oh sorry, Lily," Gail mumbled, turning her attention to her redheaded friend, "what were you saying?"

Sighing, Lily repeated herself, "will you go with me to the next Slug Club party? I'm allowed to bring a guest. I don't much want to take a date, but I don't want to go alone."

"Potter's been asking you to take him?" Gail asked, chuckling to herself, "he's not going to take revenge on me, is he?"

"No, I'd rather take the whomping willow to the party," Lily snapped, "so it's at eight tonight. Wear a dress robe."

"Yes, mum," Gail snorted.

Gail and Lily headed down the stairs at quarter to eight. There wasn't a nice greeting in the common room. James Potter leered darkly at the two girls. Lily refused to acknowledge him, but Gail felt it was prudent to say something.

"Don't worry, James," Gail said calmly, "I won't let any bad men steal her away."

James continued to glower. Her only answer was a faint smile from Remus.

"I don't know why you bother with him," Lily frowned at her friend as they headed towards the dungeons, "he's a huge git."

"I rather enjoy his company when he's not brooding, or being a git," Gail commented lightly, "but I don't think our answers would be different. I'd turn him down, as well."

Lily laughed quite sourly, "lucky you don't have him bugging you for a date every time he sees you."

Lily pushed open the door to Slughorn's chambers. She was immediately greeted by the fat, old Professor. The jolly walrus bustled around Lily, and started introducing her to several other party guests. Gail felt rather small and unimportant next to Lily; who was the most clever witch in their grade.

"Who have you brought with you, Lily?" Slughorn asked, turning his greedy eyes onto Gail, "Miss Forester?"

"Yes," Lily beamed at her friend, "Gail is quite the witch, Professor. She's already completed a two year internship with the ministry."

Gail was getting annoyed that people kept bringing up how she was an intern in the ministry like it was something special. She would rather be "just Gail". As it was, Slughorn's beady eyes lit up with interest, causing Gail's stomach to churn.

"Really? Already working for the ministry at such a young age? How interesting, yes indeed," Slughorn smiled at her, "you wouldn't be interested in joining the Slug Club, would you?"

Gail pretended not to have heard him. She felt a flicker is dislike, and turned to Lily, "gonna grab something to eat."

On her way to the table of food, Gail faintly heard Lily mention her "shy and fragile" friend. Gail decided to stand by the punch bowl and wait for her friend to stop talking with the bloated, idiotic man. There were quite a few others at the party, even some that she had seen in the Prophet before. No one spoke to her, though, and she kept to herself. She noticed the platinum haired man that she had met at the Prewetts over the summer, Lucius Malfoy. On his arm was the equally blonde Narcissa Black. They stood in a group of Slytherins, talking about whatever. Obviously, they were Slughorn's guests, because they had graduated years ago.

Gail ignored them, largely because they were casting disapproving glances at the muggleborns; including Lily and another boy. The boy looked rather nervous by himself, and constantly glanced at the larger group of Slytherins. Ignoring the snickers of the Slytherins, Gail made her way over to the boy. She didn't even know his name, but it wouldn't do to stand by himself when Slughorn so obviously favored those of his own house.

"Hello," Gail greeted the boy amiably. He looked stricken for a moment, but seemed somewhat relieved when she offered him a hand, "my name is Gail Forester."

"I know who you are," the boy said quietly, "I'm Dirk. Dirk Cresswell. Fourth year, Griffindor."

"I'm terrible with names," Gail smiled faintly at Dirk for a moment, "but it's comforting that there are some other Griffindors here."

"No kidding," Dirk flashed a rather charming smile at her, "I was beginning to think that there were only- well- pureblood enthusiasts."

"You're a muggleborn?" Gail asked quietly, "I can't even tell the difference. I didn't grow up in a wizarding household."

"You would do well not to associate with those of lesser standing," a silky voice resonated from the general direction of the Slytherins.

Gail frowned and ignored the blatantly rude comment, "come with me, Dirk. I'd like to talk with Lily and I don't want to leave you by yourself at such a _dull_ party."

She lead the boy, who was close to two years younger than her, over to Lily. Slughorn had finally moved along to fawn over someone else, and had his back turned to the redhead. At least Severus Snape had made an appearance at the party and had made some brief conversation with Lily until Gail returned. She watched his retreating figure, thinking momentarily that his animagus would be a bat with a broken wing.

"Oh, so you did manage to meet someone," Lily commented dryly, not an ounce of sympathy in her voice, "hello Dirk, how are things going for you?"

"Well, thanks," Dirk smiled cheekily at Lily while standing next to Gail, "managed to get away from Potter tonight, I see... I don't understand why the other guys I share my dorm with think they're so..."

"Oh, I know," Lily agreed with him, avidly, "he's such a git all the time. It's a wonder than anyone would look up to him."

"I think he'll make Head Boy," Gail stated serenely, "in our seventh year, you know."

"No way," Lily gaped at her, dazed, "you didn't just say that... Why would Professor Dumbledore ever want a rule breaker to... That's just nuts, Gail."

"Actually," Dirk said calmly, "in your year, he's about the only one that can control the other three. Lupin doesn't really do much right now, as a prefect, you know?"

Lily pursed her lips and glowered at both Dirk and Gail. She didn't say anything, but Gail knew that she would rather have Peter as the Head Boy than James. Hopefully, James would be able to get his act together by then. Gail pursed her lips, too, and ignored the sting of annoyance when Dirk mentioned Lupin. She opened her mouth to protest but words wouldn't come out. It was true that Remus didn't tell his friends to stop, for his own reasons.

Dirk seemed to understand that he had hit a sore subject with both girls and decided to try to change the topic, "so you're writing O.W.L.s this year, right?"

"Yes," Lily immediately brightened up, "I heard they were ghastly difficult if you don't know your stuff."

Dirk nodded in agreement, "but you'll do just fine. You're talented enough to surpass everyone else in your grade, no offense Gail."

Gail shrugged momentarily, "doesn't matter. Lily is spectacular."

At the compliment, Gail noticed that Lily went flush. She immediately started shaking her head and disagreed, "no, I'm sure you'll do better in Care of Magical Creatures, Gail."

"It'll probably be my only O," Gail remarked, "and that's only because I have more experience than everyone else."

"I heard that Care of Magical Creatures has two parts," Dirk commented airily, "personally, I'm not even taking the course; I much prefer Ancient Runes and Arithmancy."

"Is Kettleburn too strict for you?" Gail asked gently, "he does a good job weeding out the poor students. I've heard that everyone gets at least an E under his classes."

Dirk went a little red in the face and shook his head, "it's just not what I want to do with my life. I'd like to work with... well, it's embarrassing, but I'd like to work in Wizengamot or in the Goblin Liason Office."

"Working with goblins?" Lily asked skeptically, "why would you want to do that? I hear they can be dreadful..."

"That's only because their beliefs are different than ours," Dirk stated knowingly, "personally, I think they're fascinating."

"I like house elves better," Gail admitted, but she could understand Dirk's thoughts. It was easy to become enthralled with the fascinating creatures of the magic world.

The party went on for hours. Eventually, Slughorn decided that the "good party must end at some time." He sent the students back to their common rooms. Gail felt absolutely ridiculous walking through the school in her black dress robes with Lily and Dirk; the only other Griffindors at the Slug Club party.

"So what was the point of that party?" Gail asked quietly as they approached the portrait of the fat lady, "_ambrosia_."

The portrait swung open as Lily explained, "that party was just meant to introduce the members of the Slug Club to members that have graduated."

"So what was the point of dressing up?" Gail muttered to herself. She really didn't care for the Slug Club; something about Slughorn bothered her and she couldn't put her finger on it.

Lily's mood turned foul as soon as she stepped into the common room. James Potter blocked her way to the dormitories. He looked even more upset than ever. His hair was more messy and everything.

"Have fun at the party?" James asked, his eyes darkly moving from Lily to Dirk and back.

"Yes," Lily responded bitterly, turning to her companions, "see you later, _Dirk_, I'm going to bed."

Dirk looked a little lost, but he nodded nervously. The boy was doing his best to look brave, but he really wouldn't be able to stand up to an angry James Potter, who was inching his hand towards his wand with every step that Lily took.

"She's lying, James," Gail said quietly, grabbing Dirk's shoulder and pushing him towards the staircase to the boy's dorms, "I've never been so bored in my life."

"Bored? But she said..." James' attention flicked to Gail, as if he was just noticing that she was there as well. Dirk took the hint and ran up the stairs.

"Just to spite you. There were so many Slytherins there that the party wasn't enjoyable at all," Gail commented, looking around the common room. James was one of the few left awake and the others were staring at him, expecting something funny to happen.

"But... who was he?" James pointed towards the boy's staircase.

Gail shrugged, "Dirk? Some Slytherins were ragging on him because he's a muggleborn. We couldn't leave him by himself, you know."

"I get it," James finally said with a sigh, "good night, Gail."

"Night, Potter," Gail waved at him and walked up the stairs, hoping that James wouldn't hex poor Dirk... But he probably would anyway.

"What took you so long?" Lily snapped when Gail got into their dorm. The other girls were asleep, so Lily kept her voice quiet.

"Oh, I just made sure that James doesn't hex Dirk," Gail frowned at Lily, "because a certain red haired friend of mine thought it would be cute to use a younger student as fodder for the fight."

Lily grumbled faintly, but shrugged it off.

* * *

**Author Note: **

I finally found a good place to include a Sluggy Party. Snape's prolly upset that Lily didn't ask him, but he's already a member... He didn't need Lily to take him.

There won't be a comment gallery today. No reviews. That's okay. Have fun back at school. I'll just go hide in my closet...

-Rue


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

"We haven't been able to find anything wrong with you cat, Miss Forester," Dumbledore was saying. The silver and black tabby had become quite attached to him over the last few months. Mati was laying on top of the professor's lap while attempting to catch the man's beard in his claws.

"Frankly, we've exhausted ourselves trying spells to find any curses," Dumbledore continued, "but for safety, I think that this animal should remain here. You understand, don't you? Of course, the school will reimburse you, should you want to get a different animal. We don't want you coming in contact with any curses that could set back your recovery."

Regret tugged at Gail's heart. She had loved the little kitten to pieces, even though she couldn't give Mati the attention she deserved, and had apparently found through Dumbledore. Dumbly, Gail nodded, "that's fine, sir. As long as there's someone taking care of Mati. He seems rather attached to you, anyway."

"Mere attachment to whoever feeds him," Dumbledore smiled wistfully, "oh yes, I would like to thank you for being under your best behavior while staying with the Prewetts. They sent me a letter a few weeks ago with a box of goodies. They sounded quite pleased with the addition to their family."

"It was the least I could do," Gail mumbled, slightly embarrassed, "they took me in when I didn't have anywhere to go."

"You will be spending Christmas with them, won't you?" Dumbledore asked peacefully, "it is the time to be with those you care about most."

"Yes," Gail agreed. She had received a letter inviting her to Christmas with the Prewetts. Apparently, they had been invited, along with Gail, to the Potter's for dinner on Christmas day.

"Very well," Dumbledore plucked the cat from his lap and placed Mati on his desk, "you may go, Miss Forester. Take care over the holidays."

"Thank you, sir," Gail got up to leave, "happy Christmas."

* * *

Gail followed her word and spent her Christmas vacation with the Prewetts. She had been delighted that Gideon, Fabian, and Molly and her family had dropped by to give their holiday greetings. The brothers hadn't stayed long, though, having said that they were quite busy over the holidays.

"Gail dear," Mrs. Prewett was saying, "would you mind watching Charlie and Bill tonight? We'd like to take Molly and Arthur out to celebrate their eighth anniversary."

"Of course, Mrs. Prewett," Gail agreed. She was shocked that Molly would trust her enough to leave Gail with her two sons, "I would be glad to watch them."

That night, Gail was left alone in the Prewett's house with the two ginger haired children.

"I just turned six in November," Bill told her happily, "and Charlie just turned four."

Charlie was sitting happily on Gail's lap with a picture of a Swedish Short-Snout dragon in his hands.

"Happy belated birthday, Charlie," Gail said sweetly, patting his head. She was sure that he wasn't even listening, though.

Bill looked rather unhappy that his brother was receiving more attention than he was. In an instant, he was standing next to Gail and tugging on her sleeve. His large, blue eyes looked at her searchingly.

"I'm hungry, Gail," Bill informed her.

"Oh, let's get something to eat, okay? I think your Grandmother left something for us to heat up," Gail said happily, standing up and hoisting Charlie onto her hip.

The kitchen was quite cozy and had quite a few antiques. On the counter, Mrs. Prewett had left some stew in three different bowls. Easily, Gail pointed her wand at each one and muttered "_infervesco tactus" _as Mrs. Prewett had instructed. She gave a bowl and a spoon to each boy and watched them eat quietly. When Gail was sure they would eat and not fling food around, she ate some as well.

The meal was peaceful until Bill finished, and then he started pestering his younger brother about things that only brothers could. The two were an inch away from starting to fight, and Charlie wasn't even finished his bowl. Bill's teasing got to the point that Charlie looked like he was about to start crying.

"Mummy," Charlie cried, tears running down his chubby cheeks.

"Enough Bill," Gail said firmly, scooping the crying boy into her arms, "don't tease your brother any more. He's crying... There there, Charlie. Look, here's the picture you like."

Charlie immediately stopped crying and took hold of the picture. There were still tears in his eyes, but he had quieted quite a bit.

"There you go, Charlie, that's a brave little Griffindor-in-making," Gail soothed, placing Charlie back down. Gail rubbed both boy's heads.

Charlie, worn out from crying and with a full stomach, was soon looking to go to bed. Gail gently put the ginger haired boy onto the bed in the spare room. When she turned around, she found Bill staring at her with wide eyes.

"Don't tell mum, okay?" Bill begged her, "I promised to be on good behavior today..."

Gail thought about it for a moment before speaking, "I won't tell her if you give me your word you'll try to treat your brother a little nicer. You're his big brother, if you don't set an example for him, who will?"

Bill's eyes flashed, "I'm the oldest, aren't I?"

"Yes, you are," Gail laughed, "and you might have more siblings eventually. It's your job to look after them, too. Right?"

"Right," Bill agreed, flashing a cheeky smile at Gail, "want to play chess?"

"Sure," Gail conceded, nodding firmly, "but I'll warn you now, I'm terrible at it."

By the time the adults got home, Bill had defeated Gail playing chess at least twice and was going on a third time. The excuse she had given was that she did not understand the rules. Mrs. Weasley was tickled pink by the fact that her two sons had behaved all evening. She repeatedly thanked Gail, who felt slightly bad that she didn't tell the woman about the argument.

"Molly, dear, why don't you let the boys sleep over tonight. Charlie is already asleep and Bill looks ready for bed," Mrs. Prewett smiled softly at her daughter, "you two can take the night off and have some romantic time."

"I suppose you're right," Molly said thoughtfully, "we'll be back to pick them up in the morning. Come on, Arthur..."

Arthur shook Gail's hand amiably. He winked at her, and she instantly understood what they would be doing. Perhaps Bill would have another sibling soon.

* * *

On Christmas day, Gail, Mr. and Mrs. Prewett were standing on the porch of the Potter's house. It was exactly like Gail had imagined. The well maintained house was blanketed in snow, and it was quite cold outside, but the inside of the house emitted warmth from what Gail could see through the windows.

Moments after Mr. Prewett knocked on the door, Mrs. Potter flung open the door. She greeted Mr. and Mrs. Prewett warmly before turning her hazel eyes to Gail.

"Oh, how wonderful that you could come! I'm sure James will be glad that another of his friends could make it," Mrs. Potter pulled Gail into a short hug before showing her into the house. Gail was about to remove her heeled shoes when Mrs. Potter chuckled and whisked her wand to remove the snow from Gail's shoes.

Mrs. Potter smiled fondly at Gail, "keep them on, dear. James is upstairs, first door on the right."

"Thanks," Gail smiled at the welcoming woman before heading up the staircase. She heard some voices coming from behind the first door on the right at the top of the stairs. There was a pause, and Gail knew they were talking about something that they didn't want the adults to know. She quickly knocked on the door, and it opened.

"Blimey, it's Gail," Sirius grinned at her, taking her by the arm and pulling her into the room.

Her initial shock at being in James' bedroom was replaced quickly at sheer revulsion. Something smelled like it was decomposing. The floor was covered with at least a foot of dirty clothes. Only a small path cleared for walking, with only one layer of clothes on the floor. Junk seemed to have accumulated around the room. There were textbooks and other school supplies scattered around the room. Gail was surprised to see both James and Remus sitting on the bed along with a bunch of other items, including candy wrappers and what looked like chocolate frog cards. Remus had cleared the junk away from him, but James looked like he was just sitting on whatever he felt like. Peter peaked his head out from under a pile of blankets that had been thrown off the bed.

"Your room _is_ a war zone, James," Gail commented, causing the boys to break into raucous laughter. Her disapproving look just made them laugh even harder, "I didn't think everyone would be here... Not a full moon, right?"

Remus nodded peacefully, "no, thankfully, that was a few days before holidays started."

"Take a seat, Gail," James gestured towards a chair where his broom was located. Gail shuffled through the dirty clothes on the floor and set the broom aside before sitting down.

"So we're agreed on the prank for this evening?" James grinned at the boys, who nodded in agreement.

"What?" Gail looked shocked, "you're pranking your own parents?"

Sirius rolled his eyes, "it'll be harmless, Gail. The parents'll think it's hilarious and they can clean it up easily."

Gail caught Remus' eyes and he nodded in confirmation. Gail sighed, "fine, I'll play along. So what are you doing?"

"You'll see," Sirius grinned cheekily, "it'll be better than last time."

"So why did you make me sit down in this room?" Gail pointed around her, "when I'm wearing my nice dress robes and shoes..."

"Because we need some eyes candy," James said pointedly, "and Moony was lonely without you."

"Pff," Sirius snorted, giving James a quick noogie before attempting to get away. James was too quick, and clamped his long arm around Sirius' neck. The two of them started wrestling quite roughly. Remus scooted a few inches over to get out of the cross fire.

"They've been like that all day," Peter squeaked, his watery eyes locked on Gail, "happens a lot when they spend a lot of time together."

"Who usually wins?" Gail asked, laughing slightly as Sirius kicked James in the stomach.

Remus shrugged, "they usually go until they're tired or until one of the parents breaks them up."

"Hmm," Gail stood up and trudged over to the side of the bed. She carefully took off her shoes. Neither boy seemed to notice her until she jumped on both of them. Remus and Peter laughed really hard when she looped her toned arms around two necks.

"W-what are you doing Gail?" James spluttered, trying to remove Gail's arm from around his neck.

Gail just tightened her grip slightly. She released Sirius to reach a hand over and pinch James, "I wanted to wrestle, too. Can't I?"

"No," Sirius grabbed her waist and attempted to pull her off James, to no avail.

Within minutes, the three of them were too tired to continue wrestling. They hadn't even noticed that Peter had left to go to the bathroom from being too excited. Gail slide over the bed to hide on Remus' other side. She had left a few bruises on both boys from her atomic pinches. Sirius, seeing the bruises, attempted to swat at her in revenge.

"Hey, you can't hide behind me when you feel like it," Remus jokingly prodded her with an elbow.

"Dinner is ready," Peter announced, standing at the door. His face was quite red and he had a huge smile on his face.

Gail quickly pulled her shoes back on and followed the boys back down the stairs. She paused for a moment to check that her hair was laying flat before walking into the dining room. It was significantly smaller than the Prewetts' dining room, but it was a lot more comfortable. The table was small enough that Gail was rubbing elbows with her neighbors, Sirius and Remus, that night. Not that it mattered, she was comfortable enough with both boys.

The dinner consisted of nothing less than top quality foods. Mrs. Potter wouldn't serve her guests or her family less than the best, just like Mrs. Prewett. Gail had expected a house elf to do the work at the Potters' house, but it wasn't so. James' elderly mother took care of most things, leaving James to become quite lazy; if that was the right word. He was more like a slob...

The meal was lovely, until the marauder's prank happened. Gail was enjoying some mashed potatoes when she found that her tongue was sticking to the top of her mouth. By the time she had really noticed, her tongue was stuck quite well to her palate. As she swallowed her last mouthful, she noted the wide grin on Sirius' face as he watched her. No one else had touched their mashed potatoes yet.

"Earious Back," Gail grabbed his arm. Everyone turned their eyes to her in amazement, but Gail didn't have time to wonder at her outward appearance. She was a second away from giving Sirius two black eyes.

"You boys did it again. This is why we can never have dinner here," Mrs. Potter shrieked above her husband's laughter. The woman gave each boy a stern look before rushing over to Gail, "come on, dear, we'll get you fixed up. The rest of you- do _NOT_ eat those potatoes."

Gail was ushered out of the room by her arm. When she finally noticed that her hands looked like rainbows, it was too late to freak out. She really couldn't say much with her tongue stuck to the top of her mouth, anyway. Of course they would hide their prank stuff in her favourite food. Yes, she most definitely would _not_ advise Lily to date James, not when he still acted like a prat.

It took Mrs. Potter a few minutes to get Gail's skin tone the right shade, but there was nothing she could do about Gail's tongue. It was a sticking charm, but not a permanent one. Hopefully it would disappear within a day or two. Gail nodded her thanks to Mrs. Potter, who looked rather sad.

"I had hoped that the boys would act decent with such a nice girl here," Mrs. Potter confided in her, "I really would like a nice girl like you to join the family."

Gail's only response was a weak smile as she shook her head. That wouldn't happen; James was too big a pain in the butt. It would be unlikely that he could marry any 'nice girl' in this century.

"Oh well," Mrs. Potter smiled peacefully, "the only girl he's ever talked about was a Lily... Evans, I think."

"Oooh," Gail nodded her head enthusiastically.

The elderly woman smiled faintly, "yes, he likes her, doesn't he? Is she a nice girl?"

Gail nodded her head firmly, again, "mah bescht forient."

"Your best friend?" Mrs. Potter smiled sweetly, "oh, how lovely. Well, let's join the others back in the dining room. Could I interest you in some butterbeer?"

Gail shook her head and seated herself in between Remus and Sirius again. Only Remus noticed her reappearance and looked slightly worried. Sirius was too busy talking with James, and had left himself completely open to one of Gail's atomic pinches. Using her thumbnail, she grabbed a good chunk of the boy's neck skin and twisted as hard as she could. She was done before Sirius could even react.

"What the- Gail? That hurt," Sirius grumbled, holding a hand to his neck. The pinch area was already discoloured. Gail didn't respond to him, instead she turned to Remus and gestured that he come closer.

"What? So you can pinch me too?" Remus asked, scooting further away. He didn't get very far. Gail snatched his hand and delivered a smaller pinch on the back of his hand.

"Who taught you how to pinch like that?" Sirius asked her with an accusing look in his grey eyes.

"Wiwy," Gail responded shortly, her eyes fixed on Peter next. She was sure that Mrs. Potter would have James doing some thing to make up for ruining her Christmas party, so she wouldn't pinch him, but Peter needed one.

Peter looked quite nervous by her stare, but Gail didn't look away. Instead, she smiled sweetly at the little mousey boy. He squirmed slightly and looked away. She couldn't quite reach Peter, he was across the table from her, but she decided to pinch him when he least expected it.

"Thank you for the meal, Emilie, it was lovely... for the most part," Mrs. Prewett thanked Mrs. Potter as they were getting ready to leave. The boys were a little wary of Gail. especially after the meal, but Mrs. Potter insisted that they send off her guests.

Just as she was about the leave, Gail side stepped and cornered Peter. She swiftly gave his cheek a pinch before she left. There was a grin of triumph on her face as she walked away from the little house in Godric's Hollow.

* * *

It took a few days for the sticking charm to work. Her tongue was released, much to her relief. She could finally eat solid foods. It was likely that she wouldn't trust mashed potatoes again. The last week of Christmas holidays was pleasant for Gail. It was a good break from Hogwarts, in which she was able to study a good five pages of the animagus notes without being interrupted. The information had become more complex, but because of the gradual increase of difficulty, Gail was finding that she could understand hard concepts of Transfiguration that she hadn't understood before.

Between moments of studying, Gail had spent more time with Mr. and Mrs. Prewett. She had helped the two perform chores that might have been too strenuous for them. She had even taken care of the nest of Puffskeins that had settled themselves in the study. One afternoon, Mrs. Prewett pulled Gail aside.

"Albus sent a note saying that we should take you shopping for a new animal," Mrs. Prewett smiled cheerfully, "what kind of animal would you like? Maybe an owl? They're very useful."

"Alright," Gail agreed. She might as well get an owl. It wouldn't be able to replace Mati, but at least she would be able to send letters to people whenever she wanted.

"You still haven't learned to apparate yet, have you?" Mrs. Prewett smiled fondly at the girl, holding out her arm, "we'll use floo powder to get to Diagon Alley quickly."

Gail was relieved that she wouldn't have to apparate with Mrs. Prewett. She was quite happy to use the floo network to travel. The two women arrived in Diagon Alley, in front of Eeylops Owl Emporium. There were so many owls in cages that Gail didn't know which way to look first. She would have liked to spend all day looking at the animals, but it wouldn't do. Mrs. Prewett probably had to get supper ready for her husband. Gail quickly scanned the cages for an owl that could catch her attention.

They were all very cute. Some of the birds looked highly intelligent, but the one that caught her attention had a pair of mean-looking, yellow eyes. The sign read that it was a burrowing owl named Fright. Gail admired the white pattern on its brown feathers. It was a rather small owl, compared to many others in the shop. The owl stared back at her, as if it was daring her to buy him.

"Have you found one you like?" Mrs. Prewett asked, peering over Gail's shoulder.

"Yes," Gail smiled, "I'd like this one." Before Gail could say anything else, she was holding the cage in her hands as she walked out of the store. Mrs. Prewett had smiled at her while paying for it.

"Merry Christmas, Gail," the woman said, "I hope this little owl can keep you company whenever you feel lonely. What's its name?"

Gail smiled, "Fright."

* * *

**Author Note:**

So Gail won't be getting Mati back. As a gift, Mrs. Prewett bought her an owl named Fright. If you want to see what he looks like, you can find a picture in my photobucket account listed on my profile page. He's really cute.

I'm probably the only one that gets a kick out of Gail's idea of revenge and punishment. Atomic pinch for Sirius, gentle pinch for Remus, annoying pinch for Peter, and advising Lily against dating James FOR James.

I also put two polls up on my profile, for fun. Go vote for your favorite characters!  
-Rue

* * *

**The Comment Gallery**  
_Host: Gail Forester  
Special Guest: Dirk Cresswell, Fawkes, Mary Macdonald_

Gail: Welcome to the Comment Gallery! Chapter 25! One quarter of the way to 100. Thanks for sticking with us for so long. Joining me today are Dirk and Mary, two younger students in Griffindor. Oh look, Fawkes is here too.

Dirk: Wow, I've never seen a phoenix before... but I think I like Goblins better.

Mary: I heard that their tears have healing properties and can carry heavy loads because they're extremely strong.

-Fawkes sings happily-

Gail: Mmm... As much as I'd love to admire Fawkes all day, we have a bunch of reviews to read through! Thank you for sending so many in. Our first review is from _Angel of Apathy_. I noticed that you hadn't reviewed in a while. Muggle contraptions are dismal sometimes, aren't they? But I'll tell you a secret, I like it better now, too.

Dirk: No one is rooting for me, huh?

Mary: That's a problem, see? You're _almost_ an OC, and Gail _IS_ an OC. Two OCs can not date, it's against _the rules_.

-Dirk is saddened, Gail ignores this-

Gail: Okay, so our next review is from _Apocolips_. I agree, James and Lily are hilarious when the fight, and when they leave my ALONE IN THE HALLWAY AFTER SLYTHERINS ATTACKED ME.

-Gail huffs-

Mary: Mulciber used the Cruciatus Curse on you, too, didn't he?

-Gail nods stiffly-

Dirk: That's horrible, why didn't you tell a professor?

Gail: I'm an OC, such a thing doesn't work on me. You know I can godmode or _marysue_ out of ANY spell.

Mary: It's all in _the rules_.

Dirk: NEXT!

Gail: The next review is from _Madame J. Pontmercy_. Such a wonderful name. Pontmercy. Poooontmercy. So intriguing.

Dirk: Hopefully, you'll be happy that this chapter has been posted, and sad that it's ended.

Mary: Oh, we have a Sirius/Gail shipper! Wonderful.

-Mary pops the cork off a bottle of alchohol-free champagne-

Gail: I wrestled with him... and gave him at least two atomic pinches. That isn't very romantic, is it?

Dirk: Not in my books.

Mary: Not at all.

-Gail shrugs-

Gail: The next review is from _Antionette8706_. Let them eat cake.

Mary: I want some cake.

Dirk: Thank you for the review, Antionette. We'll do our best to prod the author along.

Mary: NEXT!

Gail: Somehow this feels a lot like I'm being rushed along... But the next reviewer is _HarryDracootaku. _I will permit you to be my very first Otaku. Now we must cosplay together.

-Fawkes is very happy, but can't talk-

Dirk: James _is_ a jerk. I'll deliver your message.

Mary: I believe that the author's favorite character is James, so it's no wonder if she makes him look better than Snape.

Gail: I don't know, I think Snape seems a lot cuter in this story than the author wants him to be. She used to loathe him. The slimy git. The big nosed whale...

-Rue joins you in the corner with Sunni-

Dirk: Wait, how is Severus Snape a whale?

Gail: Beluga. Whale. Look it up.

-Mary snickers-

Gail: That's all the time we have! More reviews! It makes the comment gallery longer and more interesting, just like Sirius!

-deadpan silence-

Gail: Er... well, see you next chapter.


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N: This chapter may be disturbing to some readers due to mature subjects. I have bumped the discretion warning on the story up. **

**Chapter 26**

It didn't take Gail and Mrs. Prewett long to get back to the house after purchasing the owl. Mrs. Prewett immediately knew something was wrong, though. The house was eerily quiet and there was a pungent odour present. Gail couldn't put her finger on it, but the smell was familiar to her and it grew stronger as she followed Mrs. Prewett into the house. Gail set the owl cage down and pulled out her wand, like Mrs. Prewett had done. Gail scanned the house's main hallway, there was no hint of anyone being present in the house.

Mrs. Prewett opened the door to the study and gasped. Before Gail could even gasp, the woman let loose a soul shattering scream. A chill ran down Gail's spine as she looked over the woman's shoulder. Tears stung Gail's eyes as she stared at the man that had treated her like his daughter. Mr. Prewett looked like a doll, suspended in the air by invisible strings. His eyes were open, but did not see. Gail had to rip her eyes away from the sight to take care of Mrs. Prewett.

"Come on, we can't stay here," Gail wrapped an arm around Mrs. Prewett, who seemed adamant about not leaving her husband in such a state, "Mrs. Prewett, we have to get away. Please..."

Gail tried her best to move the woman, but she wouldn't budge. Afraid to do anything else, Gail kept trying to soothe the woman, even though she was feeling tremulous emotions herself. She could only hope that someone would come. Gail couldn't leave Mrs. Prewett alone to continue trying to pull down her husband's body.

"What's going on here?" A deep voice questioned from behind the two women. Gail swung around to find a man she hadn't ever met before standing with his wand out.

"Please help," Gail gasped, "s-someone... Killed him. And they..."

"We saw the dark mark," the man said calmly, "I'm an auror. My name is Rufus, please come with me. We'll get you to safely. Dumbledore will be here soon."

"Dumbledore!" Mrs. Prewett gasped, "yes, let's go. He can help Perse..."

Gail took Mrs. Prewett by the arm and led her out of the house, following the wizard. As Gail exited the house, she could see the giant skull with a snake protruding from its mouth. Bile leapt into her mouth, and Gail couldn't remember ever feeling more terrified in her life. The dark mark had been placed over the Prewett's house after Mr. Prewett had been murdered. The giant symbol continued to loom darkly over their heads as they stood outside of the house.

Several other aurors stood outside of the house, securing the area. When Rufus returned, the aurors turned to stare at Gail and Mrs. Prewett.

"These two entered using floo powder before I could seal it off," Rufus said, "Alastor, please check that they're not under the Imperius curse... I'm heading back inside to scout the rest of the area."

A mean faced wizard with a fake, magical eyes scanned the two women before nodding at them, "Dumbledore will be here in a moment. I've sent word... But first, what were you doing while you were out of the house?"

Mrs. Prewett didn't look like she could answer, so Gail took the initiative, "we were shopping for an owl in Diagon Alley. Oh no, I've left Fright by himself in there..."

Alastor nodded at her, "we'll get your owl out of there in a moment, girl, once we know that the area is secured."

Dumbledore finally appeared a few minutes later. When Mrs. Prewett saw him, she burst into tears and uncontrollable sobs. He took the ginger haired woman's hands and stared down at her.

"There there, Terra," Dumbledore soothed her, "Perspicuus knew what he was getting into when he defied Voldemort. It's lucky that you and Gail were out of the house..."

"B-but his body," Mrs. Prewett sobbed convulsively. She clutched onto Dumbledore's robes in agony.

Dumbledore turned his gaze to Gail, who noticed that his blue eyes shone with tears, "Miss Forester, I'm glad that you're in one piece. I would like to have you sent back to school a bit early, if you wouldn't mind. I'm sure that Terra doesn't want you to see her like this."

"Where will she go?" Gail asked quietly, more worried about Mrs. Prewett than herself.

"She will be able to stay with some family. Don't worry about her. She's a strong woman," Dumbledore fondly patted the distraught woman's hand, "will you allow me to accompany you back to school?"

Gail nodded grudgingly before turning her dark gaze back to Mrs. Prewett. Sombrely, Gail reached out and patted the woman's shoulder, "you take care, okay?"

"Oh Gail," Mrs. Prewett sobbed, pulling her into a tight hug, "I'm sorry you had to see me at such a moment. I'm sorry I worried you... I'll be f-fine. I'm sure the boys or Molly will lend me a bed for a few nights while things get sorted out."

Dumbledore made a quiet cough. Gail had to pull herself out of the hug, "I'm sure you could stay with the Potters, too... I'll send a letter when I get to Hogwarts. See you soon."

Mrs. Prewett nodded before pulling a tissue out of her pocket and blowing her nose loudly. Dumbledore led Gail further away from the house before offering her his arm, "we'll be able to apparate here. Hold onto my arm tightly and I'll get you to Hogwarts."

Gail grabbed onto his arm tightly. She squeezed her eyes shut and prepared herself for the gut wrenching feeling of side-along apparition. When the world stopped spinning, Gail opened her eyes and found that she was standing beside the headmaster in his office. Apparently, he had removed the anti-apparition ward on his office. He smiled pleasantly for a moment before opening his mouth.

"Your things will be delivered to your dormitory by tonight, after they are checked for dark items that might have been slipped in during the attack. I must go back and help the others... Will you be fine, Miss Forester?"

"Yes," Gail said weakly, finding her voice for the first time since they had arrived, "I'm just worried about Mrs. Prewett... and her children. It's... hard."

Dumbledore nodded, acknowledging her worries, "everything will be taken care of. Run along now."

* * *

Gail spent the rest of the day wandering the school. She hadn't seen very many people, either, most of the students had gone home for Christmas, and she hadn't even considered heading back to the dormitories. She spent a lot of time wondering why Mr. Prewett had been killed by Death Eaters, as she had read only about muggle attacks. Dumbledore had said that Perse Prewett had done something to tick off 'Voldemort.' As much as she felt sad about his death, she was proud of the him for doing what he could, even though it would bring about his death.

She was also scared. If she hadn't gone out for the day with Mrs. Prewett, she would have been hurt or killed just like Mr. Prewett. Or perhaps she would have been able to help him, and he would still be alive. The idea made her stomach flip backwards. She felt guilty for not being there for the man that had given her a home when she had lost hers. She felt guilty for not staying with Mrs. Prewett and allowing Dumbledore to usher her back into safety.

Helpless to her feelings, she hadn't even noticed how cold her feet were until she stopped walking. Her leather shoes were completely soaked from melted snow and the cold air that was leaking into the castle was threatening to freeze them. Finally, Gail decided to head back to the common room, even if it was just to sit in front of the fire and warm up.

No one took notice of Gail when she entered the common room. They were too busy playing chess, reading or playing explosive snap. She sat down in front of the fire and pulled off her damp shoes and socks. Her feet looked slightly blue and were really cold. Gail attempted to rub some warmth into them with her hands, which were equally cold. She eventually just decided to let her feet rest on the rug in front of the fire.

"Gail?" A voice behind Gail made her her jump. Her feet were thawed now, after about an hour of spacing out. She slowly turned around to see Amber curiously staring at her as she spoke, "did something happen? You came back early..."

There wasn't anything Gail could do to stop her tears. She opened her mouth to tell Amber what happened, but all that escaped her mouth was a sob. Amber was beside her within a second, her pale arm around Gail's shoulder. Gail rested her face on the blonde's shoulder. After a good cry, Gail's sobbing subsided. She pulled herself off of Amber's shoulder and wiped at her face.

"What happened?" Amber asked gently, tilting her head to the side. Both girls ignored the stares of the curious students around them.

"The family I've been staying with... Was attacked by Death Eaters," Gail finally managed. Her voice was raspy and her head was feeling light. The remains of her tears and boogers were running down her face and she did her best to wipe them away.

Amber's eyes widened slightly in shock, "oh Gail! That's horrible."

Neither girl said another word. Amber, holding Gail's shoes and socks, slowly lead the tawny haired girl up the stairs. Gail found that her trunk and the Fright's cage were already in the room. The owl hooted quietly in greeting. If Amber noticed the new owl, she didn't say a word. She released her grip on Gail and went to her friend's trunk to find a dry pair of socks. She tossed Gail's favourite squeaky socks to her.

Gail stared at Fright as she pulled the socks on. She decided she would order some owl treats for the bird, whose purchase was probably the reason why Gail and Mrs. Prewett were still alive. Her socks emitted a mouse-like noise with every step she took across the floor. Gail opened the cage and gently reached in and took hold of the small bird. Fright hooted softly as she stroked his brown and white spotted head. When she released the burrowing owl, he took off and flied around the room. Gail found some peace in the bird's flight.

* * *

The news of several attacks on wizard households was all over the Prophet, so it was common knowledge for the returning students. There were even photographs of the Dark Mark on the front of the Prophet a few days after Mr. Prewett's death. After seeing it, Gail lost her appetite for the rest of the day. Most of the stories were just speculation, though. Gail had heard students saying that the attacks were the work of the ministry to cover up information that they didn't want leaked. Gail knew differently, though. She understood that the attacks were meant as a warning against standing against Voldemort and his followers.

"I can't believe that those Death Eaters have started attacking wizards now," Avalon was saying to Amber during the evening meal, a few days after school had started up again, "that means no one's safe..."

Amber frowned, but didn't say anything. Melanie was too out of it to even comment.

"Relax," Lily hissed at Amber, "you're safe while you're at Hogwarts and I'm sure that the Ministry is doing its best to protect everyone."

Gail was really glad that Lily had such a calm outlook. She immediately soothed the other girls, "I don't think you have anything to worry about as long as you don't go looking for a fight."

Avalon nodded slowly, she looked a little surprised that Gail had spoken. This was understandable, since Gail had become more quiet and morose over the Christmas break. During times when she was left by herself, she would struggle to keep herself from thinking about Mr. Prewett; suspended in the air like a puppet. Over and over she had to tell herself that, as a Griffindor, she had to be courageous even if she was scared.

"I'm going back to the common room, see you later," Gail muttered as she stood up and left. She slowly walked back up to the common room. On her way, she saw James and the others hexing some younger Slytherins, who looked quite scared. Remus said something and both James and Sirius started toward her.

"Something wrong, Gail?" James asked darkly, ignoring the fact that he let the Slytherins off.

"Well... Depends on your meaning," Gail asked quietly, "I'm not going to say a word about you picking on the scum of Hogwarts; someone has to teach them a little fear..."

"That's not what I meant," James snapped, his eyes glowing with sympathy, "I heard what happened to Mr. Prewett."

"Oh," Gail said quietly, taking a step forward into James' open arms. He pulled her into a hug for a moment, "feels like the world's gone mad..."

James released her from a hug and stared at her, "don't worry about it too much. My dad said that Mr. Prewett knew what he was doing when he protected a family of muggles from a pair of Death Eaters... He was a good man."

Sirius made a strained noise, "shouldn't have happened like that."

"He died like a hero," Remus said calmly, but his voice broke a little bit. Peter nodded in agreement, but didn't say anything.

Gail's heart swelled and for the first time in days she felt a smile form on her face. She was glad that she shared some feelings with the boys, including the fact that she didn't want to talk about _it_. Her emotions were to painful at the moment, she wasn't quite ready to share them.

"Thanks," Gail said quietly, allowing the group of boys to lead her back to the common room.

"Don't worry about it," Sirius smiled aggressively, "we're going to hit the Slytherins really hard tomorrow, since we got the password to their common room."

"Good luck with that," Gail said shortly, "I hope you don't get caught."

"We need you to do something for us," James said quietly.

"It's very important," Sirus added.

"What?" Gail asked calmly, her curiosity rising slightly, "what do you want me to do?"

"Keep Moony company," James commanded, "he's grown too big to hide under my cloak and he can't take the form of a rat, like Peter."

Remus looked a little abashed but he didn't say a word. It was the first time Gail had noticed that he was taller than the other two boys. It wasn't any surprise that three tall boys couldn't fit under one invisibility cloak so easily; Gail was surprised that James and Sirius could fit.

"Keep an eye on the map for us," Sirius said deviously, "if we're in any danger, Remus knows how to signal us."

Caught up in the moment, Gail found herself nodding without really thinking about it, "fine."

They stopped at the portrait of the fat lady, who looked a little annoyed when she spoke, "password?"

"_Gobbledegook_," Remus answered before turning to James and Sirius, "see you in a bit."

The three boys set off down the hall while Gail and Remus turned into the common room. They settled themselves next to the fire.

"It's important for at least one of us to be seen by other people," Remus said quietly, sitting quite close to Gail. He opened a textbook and placed the map conspicuously under a page so that he could see the entrance of the Slytherin common room. Gail watched in amazement as James, Sirius and Peter walked right up to it.

"Oh, I see," Gail smiled faintly. She could feel Remus' knee resting comfortably against hers. Gail fished in her bag to pull out the animagus notes. She had successfully gone through a quarter of the notes so far.

"Clever," Remus smiled faintly, gesturing at the textbook cover, "you hid it in plain sight. Very clever."

"Thanks," Gail returned his smile weakly. Sitting so with the notes on her lap, she shifted slightly so that her arm was resting on Remus'. She felt quite peaceful, until her owl decided to deliver a letter. Fright landed on one of the pillows on the couch and held the letter out to her.

"Oh, it's a response from Mrs. Prewett," Gail commented, turning over the letter and opening it. She carefully read it before sighing.

"What does it say?" Remus asked gently, glancing at he letter.

Gail looked at him. Relief was evident in her eyes, "Mrs. Prewett is staying with her daughter. I'm glad Molly is taking care of her. It sounds like she's handling it well enough. Mrs. Prewett really loves being able to spend time with her grandchildren, they're doing well to keep her mind off of Mr. Prewett."

Remus, who had tensed up at the sight of the letter, finally relaxed, "I see. Is that her owl?"

"No, he's mine," Gail laughed, gently running her pointer finger over the bird's head, "his name is Fright. Doesn't he have lovely eyes?"

Remus shifted slightly, "well, he's certainly unique looking. Fright looks a little mean..."

"Don't say that, he's perfectly lovely," Gail held out her arm and Fright jumped onto it, "he's a good bird. He cleans his feathers every day and he catches mice really well... He's just a little shy around people."

Fright was staring at Remus. Well, Remus would probably have called it glaring. The bird looked like it was daring the werewolf to make a move on Gail, so that it could peck his eyes out.

"Charming, sure," Remus said sarcastically before turning his attention to the map, "ah, they've gone in... It looks like they're starting the first phase of the plan."

With Fright sitting on her shoulder, Gail peered at the map, "what are we supposed to be watching for? Flying bogeys? Maybe Peeves?"

"Any and all of the above," Remus said quietly, "anything that could give them difficulties."

"And how do you warn them?" Gail asked quietly.

Remus pointed to his house badge, "we charmed them in our third year to change colour discretely depending on different meanings. White is for Peeves, brown is for Filch and Mrs. Noris, green is for Slytherins, purple is for any professor, and black is for anyone else."

"No colour for Lily?" Gail laughed, "that's what I'd call clever, Remus. Was it your idea?"

"I thought up what to change, it was James' idea to use different colours," Remus smiled fondly at her, "Sirius wanted to make it so that the badge would roar whenever we came anywhere near Snape, but that was vetoed."

"That would have been annoying," Gail agreed with their choice.

"Oh, looks like they're done already," Remus frowned, "no wait... Sirius has spotted Snape."

Remus pulled out his wand and held it against his Griffindor badge. He spoke quietly into it, "Prongs, rein Padfoot in. He'll blow the entire prank if Snape catches wind of it."

"Gotcha," Gail heard James confirm Remus' directions through the badge.

"That was a recent addition," Remus remarked after removing his wand from the badge, "after Sirius got hold of a pair of muggle instruments called 'Walkie-talkies'... Ah, looks like they're back on track."

"So what are they doing?" Gail asked casually, causing Remus' eyebrow to jump up suspiciously.

He shook his head, "you'll just have to wait until tomorrow morning, like everyone else."

* * *

**Author note:**

This chapter would have been faster if I wasn't having a horrible allergic reaction to my dog. Achoo! It is about 400 words longer than the other chapters, but it's pretty important.

Thoughts on Voldemort's rise to power? Questions? The man likes his chaos and cookies.

I'm terribly sad about this chapter, but I think it's necessary.

-Rue

* * *

**The Comment Gallery  
**_Host: Gail Forester  
Special Guest: Flink_

Gail: Welcome to the Comment Gallery! Flinkies is here with me today. Welcome Flink.

-Flink looks stunned-

Flink: Holy... Uhm... uhm.... hello!

Gail: Just relax, Flink. We're just going to read some reviews. Looks like the first one is from _Apocolips_. Thank you. The story loves you back.

Flink: Can I read the n-next one?

Gail: Of course! Go right ahead.

Flink: Oh... uhm... It's from _Angel of Apathy_. What's an atomic pinch?

Gail: Oh! My speciality. What you do is you grab as much skin in between your thumb and pointer finger and pinch. Dig your thumbnail into the skin and then twist. The more force you put in it, the more it hurts.

Flink: Miss Gail, should I go over to Angel's house? I could help the poor muggle...

Gail: That would be nice of you, but it'd go against the ministry laws.

Flink: Oh... R-right.

Gail: Our next reviews are from _nextgenwriter_. Thank you for the input. I'll do my best to not become a Mary-sue, but I really don't want to be hated or pitied my entire life...

Flink: I think you're wonderful, Miss Gail.

-Flink stares at Gail adoringly, which earns her a hug-

Gail: Anyway... Who planted fake memories in me, indeed! That's what I'd like to know. Sneaky little author.

Flink: The author has taken my preciousssss~! WE _**MUST**_ HAVE IT BACK!

-Gail looks a little worried-

Gail: Our next two reviews are from _MoonNightLover _and_ Musik Drache_. Thank you for the reviews. You're both very sweet.

Flink: Such kind muggles, Miss Gail! I'm very surprised!!

Gail: Yes, hopefully everyone enjoyed this chapter. That's all the time we have for today.

Flink: Bye bye~!

Gail: See you next chapter.


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

As much as she wanted to forget her surroundings and continue to be upset for a while longer, Gail couldn't deny that the marauders had a knack for making her forget her problems. Their continuous pranks made Gail push Mr. Prewett to the back of her mind. The Slytherins did get a thorough dumping on.

The morning after the three boys had gone into the Slytherin common rooms, Gail was sitting with the boys in the Great Hall. They were doing their best to look casual, but Peter was failing. He had become increasingly twitchy and excited over the last few minutes. Gail noted that there were no Slytherins at the house table. When the Slytherins finally showed up for breakfast, they looked like they had run through an obstacle course. Each person had torn robes and several small scratches on their faces. A few of the Slytherins were covered in what looked like boogers.

From what Gail could see, though, the fifth year boys were the worst off. Their uniforms had been transfigured into the female versions and charmed to flash bright, feminine colours. The back of Snape's robes had writing that said something like "slimy, big nosed git" in startling pink letters.

"Looks like your plan worked," Gail said quietly, but her voice was drowned out by the riotous laughter of the other students. She soon joined in the laughter and found herself in a better mood than she'd been in days. That was, until Lily stomped over to them.

Bashfully, Gail dropped the smile from her face, "alright, Lily?"

"No, everything is not bloody well alright," Lily snapped at her, completely red in the face. James opened his mouth to say something, but she was too quick, "No, Potter, I will not go out with you."

Gail stood up, offering a sad smile to James. She followed Lily out of the Great Hall and down one of the corridors. The paintings were watching them walk. Several of them looked bemused at the raging Lily. Eventually, the redhead stopped walking so quickly and spun around, causing her red hair to fly.

"What do you think you're doing, Gail?" Lily hissed angrily, "you could get expelled for helping them pull that prank."

"Relax Lily," Gail said calmly, ignoring the fire in Lily's emerald eyes, "I didn't help them at all. I swear... I think they were just trying to cheer me up."

Lily frowned, her lips practically disappearing as she pursed them. When she spoke, it was a lot calmer, "you should tell them that you don't need them to cheer you up. You have us, Gail. Really, if something has upset you, why don't you talk to me about it? Do you think I won't understand?"

Ah, so that was it. Lily was upset that Gail hadn't been sharing everything with her. In fact, Gail hadn't shared a majority of anything with her. The wounded look in Lily's eyes told Gail that she had made a mistake by trying to keep her friend from worrying. Gail took a deep breath and nodded solemnly.

"Lily, I didn't mean it that way, you know," Gail explained, "you were my first human friend at Hogwarts. Before I was friends with you, I spent more time with Myrtle than any human should."

"Well, that's some way to treat your first friend, Gail," Lily snapped. Even her eyes were turning red. She looked like she was on the verge of crying.

"You want to know everything? Fine, let's find a private place and I'll tell you everything," Gail said shortly, "but it'll take a while."

* * *

After about thirty minutes of explaining everything to Lily. Gail was glad that the other girls weren't in the dormitories right then, because they would find Gail and Lily sitting on the bed with a box of tissues between them. Gail had explained everything from the numerous meetings with Dumbledore to the death of Mr. Prewett to Lily. Gail paused. It had been remarkably hard to tell Lily exactly how Mrs. Prewett had found her husband's body. Her throat constricted painfully and her eyes watered for a moment, but she rubbed them to keep herself from crying.

The silence was unbearable between the two girls. Lily was staring at her with sympathetic tears hanging in her eyes. Gail finally got up her nerve to speak, "well? Was I wrong to keep that from you? I really didn't want you to worry about me..."

"Oh Gail," Lily sniffed, huge tears rolling down her face, "that's mean. Y-your father... and now Mr. Prewett?"

Gail pulled a tissue out of the box and handed it to Lily. She was glad that she had purchased an unending box of tissues from Zonkos. It came in handy for most "girl" moments. It took Lily a while to stop crying in sympathy for Gail. After blowing her nose quite loudly, and somewhat similarly to how Gail had a few days ago, she turned to stare at her dusky haired friend.

"How much did you tell the Potter?" Lily asked, still sounding a little stuffed up.

"Just about everything except what I told you about my eyes," Gail answered truthfully. Lily, happy with this answer, propped herself up higher on the bed to stare at Gail.

"And you know that I don't approve of your relationship?" Lily asked sourly, "I don't understand how you can go from dating Black to being their friend."

"I'm their friend?" Gail laughed nervously for a moment before staring up at the top of her four post bed, "I guess, but it's not like that makes me one of them, right? If it bugs you, I'll keep my distance from them for a while."

"Good. You don't need the kind of trouble they bring around," Lily said quietly, "but you've become so different lately. It's like you're a different person. I guess there must have been a spell on your cat."

"I act differently?" Gail was perturbed by this information. She thought that she had been acting the same as usual.

"Yes," Lily said in a matter-of-fact tone, "your smiles have more depth in them, now, and you never used to cry. Never, not even after being harassed by Slytherins."

Gail snorted, "they weren't worth crying over..."

"But still..." Lily drifted in silence for a moment.

"Life is too short not to cry when I'm sad, I guess," Gail said quietly.

"Anyway, you need to focus on studying for exams," Lily commanded her, pulling out her wand and summoning a pile of textbooks over to her, "we have less than six months to prepare for them."

"Don't sound so paranoid, Lily," Gail laughed, feeling as if she had lost twenty pounds and could breath easier, "you'll be top of our year with the same results as every other exam. Me, I expect to fail at least two classes."

* * *

Gail did her best over the next few months to stay away from the marauders, as she had promised to Lily. It wasn't like she snubbed them, though. She simply didn't seek to keep them company. She would sit with Lily and Jo during meals and classes. The marauders went on with their lives, too. Then continued to pull more jokes on the Slytherins, which amused Gail. With each prank, they seemed to gain a few more admirers. It got to the point that a majority of the younger students either followed them around or watched them whenever they entered a room. Gail assumed she wasn't really missed, since James obviously enjoyed the attention.

One Thursday evening, Gail was heading to Astronomy. Halfway to the tower, she literally walked into someone. She had been so focused on remembering the last page of animagus notes she had read that she hadn't even realized where she was. Looking up, though, she was quite glad to have bumped into that person.

"Everything okay, Gail?" Remus asked, staring down at her with a questioning look in his light brown eyes.

"Oh yes," Gail did her best to smile sweetly up at him, "I just wasn't paying attention to where I was walking. Sorry about that..."

"Hey Gail..." Remus started, taking her by the elbow and pushing her up against the wall gently. Gail assumed he just wanted to make sure he had her full attention. He spoke quite quietly, "is there a reason you've been avoiding us?"

"Avoiding?" Gail scratched behind her ear while in thought, "no, I haven't been avoiding you. It's just that Lily has been rather paranoid about who I'm friends with, see? She think I'm going to start getting detentions and things just because I was spending time with you, and James..."

Gail detected a flicker of hurt in his eyes for a moment before he put a smile on, "oh, so Lily is more important than us?"

"No, Remus!" Gail spoke a little too loudly, before realizing that the hall echoed a little bit. She brought her tone back down, "it's not that. I don't classify my friends like that, but isn't it normal to try to stop my friend's feelings from being hurt?"

Remus glowered down at her for a moment. He sighed heavily before leaning down and bumping his forehead against hers, "I suppose it is. Moony misses you, though..."

"Oh, I miss Moony, too," Gail smiled fondly at him, "but sometimes we make sacrifices to keep our friends happy."

"Mmm... I know what that's like," Remus closed his eyes and for a moment, Gail swore she saw a silver eyelash.

"Remus?" Gail squeaked after a few minutes of being leaned on, "we're going to be late for astronomy. We're going over some more constellations today."

"Oh... right," Remus' eyes snapped open. He finally released her elbow and took a step back. Gail instantly missed the feeling of his boney fingers. She noted that his face looked a little warm. He started walking to the class, leaving Gail to watch his back as he walked away. Something hurt in her chest and she decided to act on it.

Gail darted forward and grabbed Remus' left hand in her own. His hand was a bit cooler than hers. Gail felt one of the small scars on his hand connect with her calloused palm. Remus looked really shocked and half-heartedly attempted to pull his hand free.

"Stop Gail..." Remus pleaded, failing to snatch his hand back. He looked quite disgruntled. It obviously made him uncomfortable when someone touched him, or perhaps he was just worried about the marks on his hand.

"Your hands are cold, Remus," Gail said quietly, "let me warm them up, okay?"

Remus didn't say a word and he turned his head away. The two continued to walk in silence towards the Astronomy tower. Gail couldn't say a word, her heart was pounding in her throat too loudly. Remus was too embarrassed or annoyed to say anything, as well. When they reached the class, Gail finally released his hand and wordlessly stepped into the class.

They had made it just in time. The beginning of the lecture started moments after they had taken a seat in the room. Gail was rather looking forward to going to the top of the tower that night to stargaze... After they finished reviewing the constellations they had gone over in the previous class.

"Can anyone recall the constellations we discussed last Wednesday?" Professor Sinistra asked, staring at the class with her dark eyes.

Remus' hand floated up and she pointed at him to answer, "we covered the constellations Cygnus and Drago. We just started Lyra."

"Very good. Take five points for Griffindor," Sinistra nodded at him, "to continue on from where I left off last time Lyra is a constellation that has taken many different shapes to many different people. The Greeks saw a lyre, a stringed musical instrument. Other representations include different kinds of animals, including llamas and malleefowl."

Sinistra paused for a moment to let her students record this information before continuing, "does anyone know the mythology behind Lyra?"

A Ravenclaw beat Remus this time, his hand zipped up quickly. Sinistra nodded toward the boy, who spoke in an arrogant tone, "in Greek mythology, Zeus supposedly plucked Orpheus' golden lyre from the river and placed it in the sky."

Gail scrawled the information down. It hit her that the name, Orpheus, seemed slightly familiar. Perhaps she had read about him somewhere. Faintly, she heard Sinistra give a few house points to the Ravenclaw for the answer.

"Now that we've finished another group of constellations, you must use your telescopes to find and sketch some of the constellations. You have the rest of the class to do so in preparation for your OWLs. Please head up the stairs with your equipment."

Gail walked slowly up the stairs to the exposed roof of the tower. She pulled her telescope and a piece of parchment out of her bag and found a nice place beside Remus to do her work. He still wouldn't make eye contact and was busy pretending that mapping the constellations were far more important. Gail quickly set up her telescope and began sketching some of the major constellations.

Class was soon over, and when Gail packed up her telescope and things, she noticed that Remus was gone. He had taken off without even saying good bye. Gail didn't know what to think about it, but there was a sharp twinge in her chest.

* * *

Gail realized her mistake the next day when James and Sirius descended on her in the hall. A group of students formed around them, and both boys had their wands out.

"What did you do to him?" Sirius snarled, glaring daggers and her. He had his wand out in front of him menacingly.

"Who?" Gail asked. Her voice trembled a little bit. She couldn't even think of a reason for them treating her like this after they'd been so friendly to her all year.

"Remus J. Lupin," James snarled, poking Gail's neck with his wand.

With her eyebrows furrowed, Gail stared at James suspiciously, "what? I didn't do anything to him, Potter. Grow up."

"Grow up?" James' glare was equal to Sirius' at that moment. He flicked his wand casually.

Gail found herself strung up by the ankles. She could feel her cheeks heat up when several students whistled at her. She felt a rush of cold air against her bare legs.

"Nice panties, Forester," Sirius catcalled, "I never thought you would be one for colourful prints."

Gail had never felt so hurt and betrayed before. When James finally dropped her back onto the ground, she struggled to straighten her clothes. Her pain was amplified by the smug look on the faces of the students surrounding him. Sirius was laughing obnoxiously and James still had his wand pointed at Gail, as if she would ever have the heart to hex him back.

"Tell us what you did to him," James said firmly, "don't make this harder than it needs to be."

Gail opened her mouth but nothing came out. All respect that she had gained for James Potter over the last two years vanished. Again, she was staring at the boy that had stunned her and shoved her into a cupboard. Gail had been lying to herself that he had matured over the years. It was obviously rubbish. Out of no where, Gail spotted two blonde heads shoving their way through the crowd.

"Move it... Gail!" Amber stumbled over to her, "what's going on? Why is your hair a mess?"

Gail just shrugged, not in the mood to disclose how embarrassed she was at that moment. She decided to make use of the side hallways that she had used years ago from that moment on, and she would completely avoid all contact from the horrible boys.

"What have you done to her?" Gail heard Avalon say. She never would have guessed that the bookish blonde would ever stick up for her.

"When Lily hears what you've done," Amber wrapped an arm around Gail's shoulders, "you'll be the last person to get a date with her. Mark my words Potter. Not until hell freezes over."

Gail realized that both Avalon and Amber had their wands out. The two blondes forced the group of students aside as they escorted Gail away from the scene. Amber kept an arm around Gail, leading her who-knows-where while muttering about the unmentionable boys. Faintly, Gail wondered if everything that could go wrong in her life would.

The two blondes took over the couch in the common room. Amber had to force Gail to take a seat, she was so stiff and numb from the pain in her chest.

"Avalon, go grab Lily and bring her here," Amber commanded, before turning to an unresponsive Gail, "Gail? What happened? What did they do to you?"

Gail's cheeks became slightly damp, but she did her best to keep her voice from breaking, "oh, Potter just strung me up by my ankles to display my underwear to the world. No big deal."

"Potter what?" Lily walked in at the wrong moment, she looked positively frazzled. A mixture of emotions were clear on her face. She looked like she was ready to strangle James Potter.

"Oh, I think he just started a new fad. We'd better learn how to charm our skirts to keep our underwear hidden," Gail said bitterly.

"But why did they decide to hex you today? You've been getting along with them quite well for days..." Avalon said quietly, her soft gaze fixed on Gail.

Gail laughed more sarcastically than she had meant to, but she didn't reply. Instead, she just stared at the fire. The blondes and Lily were whispering about her, not that she particularly cared at that moment. Gail heard someone clear his throat and the girls stopped whispering. The common room was quiet. Gail didn't even turn her tawny haired head to see who was there.

"Gail?"

Remus' voice grated against Gail's emotions. She didn't know whether to be happy that he wanted to talk to her, or mad because of what his friends had implied. At an impasse, Gail just continued to stare angrily at the fire.

"I was hoping we could talk..." Remus continued quietly.

"You've made your feelings quite clear, thanks," Gail snapped at him, not even bothering to turn her head, "that was absolutely heartless, Lupin. I hope you can still sleep at night."

Afraid to see or hear his reaction, Gail exited the common room.

* * *

**Author Note:**

This chapter is filled with a lot of important details and foreshadowing.

What happened to Remus? What were James and Sirius talking about? You'll have to find out next chapter.

-Rue

* * *

**The Comment Gallery**  
_Host: Gail Forester  
Special Guest: James Potter_

Gail: Welcome to the Comment Gallery. Today's guest is James Potter. Welcome back, James. How's it going?

James: Pretty good. Thanks for having me back, Gail.

Gail: My, aren't we being polite today. What's going on?

James: Well-uh... I was hoping you could put a good word in to Evans for me.

Gail: Lovestruck, Potter?

James: Can't help it. She's so pretty...

-James spaces out-

Gail: Erm... Well, here. Read the first review, Potter.

James: Oh, okay. It's from _Angel of Apathy_. I hope you liked our prank. It included a trap jinx, booger goo, clothes transfiguration, colour change charm, and a few others.

Gail: Er... Moving on, make sure your fiends don't learn how to do atomic pinches, back.

James: They hurt.

-Gail snickers-

Gail: Okay, so the next review is from Apocolips. Thanks for the review. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, too.

James: The next review is from _HarryDracootaku_.

Gail: Yes, the story will update daily until I head back to school. At that time, it might be updated twice a week or more, depending on my workload.

James: We're keeping it exciting. Woo~!

Gail: Okay, our last review is from Musik Drache. Only muggles use computers!

James: What about squibs?

Gail: I can't imagine Filch ever using a computer, can you?

-Gail shudders-

James: You're right... I guess.

Gail: That's all for today. See you next chapter!


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

The last few months of school rolled by without a worry. Everything that had happened near Christmas became a memory as the students settled into their review routines. The marauders didn't bother Gail again, nor did they pester any other the other girls in Griffindor. They had done enough damage. Lifting others up by the ankles had become quite popular. As a girl, Gail couldn't walk down the hallways without someone trying it. Lily had it even worse, though. The redhead would sometimes get hefted into the air more than once when she was walking to her classes. Luckily, Lily developed a sticking charm for skirts, to keep them in place should the worst happen.

Exams.

That was what Gail had to focus on for months on end. She studied with the best and the worst of Griffindor. With Lily, she would be forced to review until the early hours of the morning. Melanie would force Gail to stop reviewing for every stupid question she could think up. As exams neared, people began to freak out. There were even a few students that stayed up consecutive nights in a row to get caught up in one class or another. Gail was so tense that she accidentally poured pumpkin juice on her cereal the morning of their first exam. No one even bothered to laugh.

"You'll be fine," Gail said to Lily, who looked quite pale. A tremor ran through the redhead, and she avidly shook her head, "Lily, you're great at charms. Stop worrying."

Once breakfast was finished, the fifth and seventh years stood around the Entrance Hall, waiting for their first exam. Gail was more worried about Charms than the other classes, and she wondered why it had to be their first exam. She would have loved to have it closer to the end of the two weeks. Just when Gail's nerves almost got to her, the students were called to enter. Gail was surprised to see individual desks in the Hall. It almost looked like a muggle institution.

Once she was seated in the proper place, Gail looked around. She was happy to be seated a few seats away from Lily. To her right, she could see Jo, looking rather nervous with Rosier sitting behind her. In front of her were Jam- Potter and Pettigrew.

"Please begin!" McGonagall said as loudly as she could, once everyone had settled into their seats.

Gail turned over her paper and looked over the questions. The exam seemed to cover levitating charms, temperature change charms and a few others. The hall was filled with the frantic scratching of quills. Gail bent her head over the exam and chose the easiest question to answer first: _if you wanted to change the temperature of a liquid, list a) four charms that you could use and b) the differences between each charm. _Gail's stomach settled for a moment. At least she wouldn't completely fail Charms.

_Four charms that could be used to change the temperature of the liquid are the temperature change charms: gelide tactus or gelide valde, infervesco tactus or infervesco valde._

_Gelide tactus means "cold touch". This spell can be used to cool off the liquid slightly. It would be most useful if the liquid was too hot. An example is cooling off a hot beverage to make it drinkable._

_Infervesco tactis means "warm touch". This spell would be used to heat the liquid up slightly. It would be more useful if the liquid was too cold. An example is heating up a beverage to make it hot._

_The valde versions of these two spells can be used to drastically heat up or cool down the liquid. This would be useful to change the temperature of the liquid from one extreme to another. For example, gelide valde could be useful to control the temperature in a volcanoe. Infervesco valde would be useful to control the temperature in the Antarctic. While these spells can keep a wizard or witch alive and safe from harsh temperatures, it's important that they be performed with restraint and only used in dire need, or else they could cause explosions and other disasters. _

Gail reread her answer a few times. She was quite happy with it, short and to the point. She was glad that she had spent hours, with Lily's help, reviewing charms. For the most part, she was sure she'd done well enough.

After finishing the first part of the Charms exam, Gail emerged from the Great Hall. Her shoulders were a bit stiff from sitting in the same place for an hour as she wrote. She was feeling confident that she had at least managed to pass the written portion. Lily was waiting outside in the Hall and smiled brightly at Gail.

"How'd you do?" Lily asked her, beaming happily. Gail was sure that Lily would get an O in Charms.

"I did just fine," Gail responded tiredly, "look at you. Got an O already?"

"I think so," Lily agreed, her smile almost reaching her ears, "I just found it really easy."

Gail ignored the familiar sound of male voices behind her. She steered Lily away from the Entrance Hall as quickly as she could. They had about an hour to relax before lunch. Most of the students weren't relaxed, though, they were busy giving in to the urge for last minute studying. Gail didn't have much to worry about in the second half, if it was anything like the first. Lily spotted the group fifth year Griffindors.

"Lily! Gail!" Jo greeted them as they settled themselves in the grass near the lake. Gail noted that she, Amber and Avalon had their charms textbooks open and were practising different spells. Melanie wasn't, though, she looked like she was trying to take a nap.

"Hey Gail, how'd you do?" Amber asked loudly, fixing her crystal stare on Gail. The dusky haired girl responded with only a laugh.

"Hey, what about me?" Lily pouted playfully.

"You're miss sunshine," Jo teased, "we all know you passed the exam with flying colours."

* * *

The rest of the exams that week passed without trouble. Herbology were one of Gail's easier classes, she was sure she had at least recieved an E in it. History of Magic was the worst. Gail hadn't been able to answer any of the questions completely, as if they had been written in a different language. There weren't any other difficulties for Gail until the Defence Against of the Dark Arts exam. The written exam was on Thursday morning. It was going well until she read question ten. The mention of werewolves made Gail think about one particular brown eyed werewolf. Once she started thinking about him, it was very difficult to think of anything else.

Her chest started to hurt and her eyes became rather scratchy. She suddenly felt quite heavy hearted when she read the question. It took a moment for her to remember to read more than just the "werewolf" part. _Five signs to identify a werewolf?_ One, his light brown eyes. Two, his pale skin. Three, his sweet smile. Four, his kind and caring aura. Five, his shyness...

Gail sighed heavily, bending her head over to continue writing the exam. She had studied werewolves extensively for the purpose of being able to handle them. It was quite an easy question to answer. She could have named quite a few more than the required five, including the sound pattern of werewolves.

Soon enough, there were only five minutes left in the class. Gail finished checking over her answers before rolling up her parchment. Looking around, Gail spotted Amber a few seats away from Sirius Black. She was staring at him like he was a delicious piece of meat. That thought made her stomach churn slightly, considering Amber had been bothering Jo to ask Sirius out for ages. It really looked like Amber still had girly feelings for him. Gail ignored the interchange between Sirius and James, instead she turned her gaze to Lily, who was frantically writing as quickly as she could for a moment before laying her quill down.

"Quills down, please!" Flitwick called, "that means you too, Stebbins. Please remain seated while I collect your tests. _Accio_."

Quite a few rolls of parchment bombarded Flitwick and knocked the half-goblin instructor over. Gail ignored the barking laughter she heard from Sirius. She was glad that Amber, and a few other students, rushed forward to help the tiny instructor back to his feet.

"Thank you, thank you," Flitwick nodded to the students, having been winded from the paper storm, "you're all free to go."

Gail slowly dropped her things back into her splotchy bag. Looking at it, she was reminded of the time that she had bumped into Sirius. That meeting had lead to her being asked out, by a boy, for the first time in her life. It was a rather fond memory, even if she was still sore at the boys.

"Coming Gail?" Lily asked her, pointing towards the door, "Jo and the others have left already. Let's go meet them at the lake."

Gail bolted up, she had forgotten where she was for a moment. She hastily followed Lily out of the Great Hall as they made their way to their normal spot. For some reason, the girls had adopted sitting by the lake during exams. The was brilliantly warm in the sunshine, and Gail was looking forward to dipping her feet into the cool lake.

"Phew," Jo was saying as they walked up, "why did that exam feel so much longer than the others?"

"That's because it was," Gail responded cheerfully, "there were a good ten questions more than there were in Charms. Not to mention, did you see Potter? Obnoxious, as usual."

Lily inclined her head slightly at the comment and grumbled quietly.

Melanie spoke peacefully. She was half asleep again, "I think I got a T... Perhaps the first T a student has ever received in that class."

Gail quickly pulled off her shoes and socks. Internally she agreed that Melanie probably failed the class, as she had likely failed all of the others. There wasn't really any surprise there. Gail didn't say a thing, though, that would have been rude. Instead, she dipped her feet into the cool lake.

"Ah..." Gail smiled peacefully, watching the wind ripple across the water. She could almost make out dark "spirits" in the water, but she couldn't tell what they were from. There was something terribly unusual about the water in the lake.

Gail was only half listening to the conversation between the other girls. It sounded like they were teasing Jo about not having the nerve to ask Sirius out. There was a lot of laughter going on between the girls, who were quite relaxed.

"Oh look, Potter keeps looking for his Wiwy-kins," Amber teased the redhead. Lily promptly ignored it and turned her head away from Amber.

"What do I care?" Lily sniffed indignantly.

"Oh, he's messing himself up for you, Lily!" Jo chided. She sounded relieved that the girls weren't teasing her anymore, "not one hair in place!"

"Oh no, look..." Amber pointed over towards the forest. Before Gail could even turn her head, Lily was sprinting like a madwoman towards Sirius' favourite tree. There was a large crowd of students around

"...ALONE!" Lily screamed. Gail couldn't see her face, but that voice meant that she was very angry, and her face was likely as red as her hair.

"There she goes again," Jo commented, "will she never learn? Snivellus had it coming. Potter has the right idea in keeping the slimy git under his heel."

"Oh, look," Melanie said peacefully, "they're talking... Snivellus is making for his wand. Oooh~..."

"OI!" Sirius was a second too late in noticing that his prey had his wand pointed at James. There was a flash of white light, which Gail recognized with a shudder. James was covered in in his own blood, but he wasn't one to take things sitting down. Snape was soon strung up by his ankles.

"Gross," Avalon commented, only looking up from her book long enough to see Snape's pasty legs.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Lily yelled again.

"Let him down, please," Melanie begged, not really speaking to anyone but herself, "my eyes have been tortured enough for today."

Snape was let down and it looked for a moment like lightning would drop down on them. The slimy, dark haired boy obviously said something rude, which caused Lily's temper to become so large that she wasn't even fiery anymore; she became icy. For a moment, it looked like Lily would walk away until she swung back around to say something to James.

"... NEVER..." James voice seemed a few pitches higher than normal.

Gail had finished pulling her socks and shoes back on, and was watching Lily carefully as the redhead hurried back over.

"...EVANS!" James shouted after her, but he didn't know that Lily's emerald eyes were too full of tears for her to turn around. She did not want the boys to see her tears. Gail darted over to her and wrapped an arm around her.

"He... He called m-me a mu-mu-mudblood," Lily sobbed quietly.

"Potter did?" Gail asked quietly. Within a second, the other girls had formed a sort of barrier around the redhead. Gail was sure that Jo was lagging behind just to throw dirty glares at the boys.

"S-S-Severus..." Lily wiped her nose and eyes on the sleeve of her robes. She didn't say anything more. Gail realized what had just happened. Severus was no longer Lily Evans' best friend.

Lily was in no state to do the second half of the exam. She hadn't been able to touch anything for lunch and she looked miserable. Gail marvelled at the power of one insult. It was large enough to destroy a solid, childhood friendship. Lily couldn't really be blamed, either. It was all Snape's doing, there was no way around it. Even Gail, who was unusually good at mediating between people, found no place in the argument. There was nothing she could say to ease Lily's pain.

* * *

Later that night, Mary Macdonald approached Gail in the common room. Jo had pointed out which one Mary was a few months ago. Gail noted that the third year looked a little nervous.

"Have you seen Lily around?" Mary squeaked, staring up at Gail. Mary was a relatively cute girl with brown, curly hair and bright blue eyes.

"She's up in our dormitories," Gail commented. She had forgotten that only the six fifth years could enter that dormitory because of the protective spell Lily had placed on it. She continued quickly, "do you need me to deliver a message to her?"

"That would be nice. Uhm..." Mary had to pause to recall the message, "oh yes, Severus Snape is waiting outside the portrait for Lily. He said he'd wait all night."

"Oh," Gail said slowly, "alright. I'll go tell her. Thanks, Mary."

Gail skirted up the stairs quickly before pulling the door to the fifth year dorms open. Lily had long since stopped sulking over Severus. Her eyes were still somewhat red, but at least she was using her tireless energy to practice Transfiguration spells now.

"Hey Lily," Gail caught the redhead's attention. Lily didn't answer right away, as if she knew why Gail was in the room.

"I'm not forgiving him this time, Gail," Lily snapped, attempting to give her dusky haired friend the cold shoulder.

Gail felt a little hurt by this, "what, you think I want you to forgive that ugly, large nosed git? No, I came to deliver a message from Mary. If it were up to me, I wouldn't even give it to you. Snape can sleep out in the hall for all I care."

Lily stopped trying to transfigure her little jewellery box for a moment and turned to Gail, "he what?"

"He's waiting in outside the fat lady's portrait and I'm assuming he wants to talk to you. Either go tell him off or leave him there to rot, I don't care," Gail snapped, throwing herself onto her bed. She was happy to see that the other girls nodded in agreement with her.

"You know I very well can't leave him out there..." Lily huffed, pulling at her pyjamas slightly before tugging on her soft, green sweater, "I'll be back in a minute, I guess."

"Give him heck, Lily," Jo said around a mouth of chocolate, "don't let him talk himself back into your life! Put your foot down on his darks arts fanatical...ness!"

Gail couldn't help but laugh after Lily left, "Fanaticalness? You're lucky that's a word."

"Shuddup," Jo groaned, "I can use imaginary-real words if I want."

It only took a few moments for Lily to make her way back to the dormitories. She had a look of utter contempt on her face when she walked through the door.

"Went well, huh?" Avalon asked sarcastically.

"I don't think he'll ever call anyone a mudblood again," Lily commented dryly, no hint of a smile on her face, "I'm going to bed. I have to continue studying Transfiguration early tomorrow."

Jo ignored Lily's sour mood. Instead, she put on her black, school robes and pulled the hood over her head. She walked convincingly into the middle of the room, mimicking Snape's twitchy walk. Avalon caught onto the joke quickly and messed up her hair. With her glasses on, she the best impression of James Potter, ever.

"Alright, Snivellus?" Avalon squawked, doing her best to strut up to Jo.

Amber couldn't stand being left out of the joke. She jumped to her feet and followed Avalon around. She impersonated Avalon's voice quite well when she echoed, "yeah, _Snivellus_!" It was obvious that she was attempting a Sirius Black impression.

Their comedy skit was lacking. Gail sighed and stood up before Jo could respond. She followed after both Avalon and Amber. The two blondes stared at her for a moment. Gail plucked up her courage and puffed out her cheeks and slouched a little to create the image of a large stomach.

"Oh! James!! You're _so_ cool!" Gail did her best to impersonate Peter's puberty stricken voice. Her voice cracked between James and cool, causing the other girls to laugh. Even Lily laughed, moreso at the impressions of the marauders than anything else. It took a long time to control the fit of laughter. Gail had never seen Lily laugh so hard. The redhead was bent over, with tears streaming down her face.

"Stop!" Lily gasped for air, "too funny!"

Amber and Avalon exchanged looked for a moment before grinning. Avalon did her Potter Strut over to Lily before kneeling down, "OH _EVANS_! YOU MAKE MY HEART BEAT!"

"Oh romantic!" Lily snorted, swatting at Avalon before bursting into giggles.

Gail was glad that Lily had cheered up. Their method had effectively made the redhead smile. Lily's smile was more contagious than anything else in the world, too.

* * *

**Author Note:**

Lily is officially weak against the Marauder Impersonations.

I love Snape's Worst Memory. It's my absolute favourite chapter in the Harry Potter books. I hope _yall_ enjoyed my rendition of it. It was way fun to write.

-Rue

* * *

**The Comment Gallery  
**_Host: Gail Forester  
Special Guest: Rue [the author]_

Gail: Welcome to the Comment Gallery. We have an extra special guest today. The author of the story finally decided to show up and help answer some questions. Hello, Rue.

Rue: So... weird. It's like I'm talking to myself.

Gail: Yep, you're definitely NOT sane.

Rue: That's for sure. You're an extension of myself.

Gail: So, I'm sure a lot of the readers would like to know why the beginning of the story is so weak. It's really slow...

Rue: I started the story in the marauder's third year to show what things were like for Gail back then, what she looked like and all that. I actually planned most of what's happened to occur closer to the end of the sixth year, but that would have left a huge gap of nothingness.

Gail: So if you skip ahead in time, it's because nothing interesting has happened?

Rue: Pretty much. The other reason that the first few chapters are so slow... It also deters from people stealing my story.

Gail: It's a test for the readers, I see. Any chance you might rewrite the first 10 chapters?

Rue: Maybe once I finish the story, but I don't see it being less than 60 chapters long.

Gail: I see. I see. So anyway, let's read the first review. It's from _Angel of Apathy_. James sure was a berk, wasn't he? I'll pinch him again sometime...

Rue: Haha... I don't know. I think James had a reason for acting like a jerk, but I'm not letting anyone else see into his head. He's mine. MINE I SAY!!!

Gail: Er...

-Gail coughs-

Gail: Okay, next review... _Musik Drache_. Computers... hmm. Rue?

Rue: Well, Harry was living in a generation where not every house had a computer. He didn't have one, that's for sure. Dudley might've. Nowadays though, squibs and muggleborns would be able to, but I don't think wizards have any use for computers...

Gail: Things between Remus and I aren't solved yet. How can you do that? BAD RUE. BAD.

Rue: Sorry, it just wouldn't have worked in this chapter. I usually try to resolve drama within two chapters, but it didn't work this time.

Gail: I see. Okay, next review... It's from _Sunni_.

Rue: Honestly, I laugh every time I read your review. They really do deserve TWENTY SEVEN hits with a newspaper. I'm glad you enjoy my cliffhangers, Sunni... I really feel bad about them, though. I try not to do it too often.

Gail: Next review! Apocolips, yes, the boys haven't really mellowed yet. They're really naughty.

Rue: But they haven't hexed you in months. Or any of the other Griffindor girls.

Gail: The power of Remus...

Rue: Don't cry, Apoco. It's okay!

-Gail shifts nervously-

Gail: Well! That's all the time we have today. Thank you for making an appearance, oh nifty author of doom.

Rue: Sure, sure. Send me some questions if you have any.

-Rue apparates away-

Gail: See you next chapter.


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

Gail didn't have to attend the Arithmancy exam on Friday, to her relief. This meant that she had three days to review for Transfiguration. She would be able to pass the Care of Magical Creatures exam easily, and her other two exams, Potions and Astronomy, were unimportant. After studying with Lily all week, she found it was a nice change to sit in the library by herself. She had spent a good chunk of the morning reviewing, and was starting to get slightly peaky. As she got up from her chair, Gail accidentally bumped into someone.

"Oh, sorry," Gail muttered, she briefly noted that the person smelt akin to the cupboard where all of the quidditch brooms were kept. Gail's dark brown eyes shot up. Staring down at her was a mildly intriqued James Potter.

"S'fine," he groaned, taking a few steps back. Gail was a little speechless, she hadn't talked to him in months. Gail had hardly even noticed his existence. She wasn't even sure she'd forgiven him.

"How long were you standing behind me?" Gail asked suspiciously, her dark eyes narrowing to glare at the messy haired teenager.

"Er... well, I was going to tap you on the shoulder," James said slowly, pointing to the animagus notes that had been hidden in her transfiguration textbook, "but you were busy reading."

"You want them back?" Gail asked shortly, holding them out for him to take. James held out both hands for her to stop.

"No, that's fine. You need them," James shifted suddenly, "look, can we go somewhere and talk?"

"No," Gail shot him down. Her lips pursed in a scowl.

"I promise I won't hex you," James said quietly, "I'll even give you my wand..."

"Hand it over then, and we can talk," Gail stuck her hand out expectantly. James fished around in his pockets for a moment before extracting his wand. He carefully placed it in Gail's hands. Gail noted that the wand didn't feel as comfortable at all. His wand was much too flimsy, compared to Gail's wand. She stuck the newly acquired wand into her pocket as she followed James out of the library.

Gail didn't even try to catch up to him. She followed him silently as he walked down one corridor and up another. Eventually, he stopped in front of a room and wrenched the door open before walking into it. Gail followed him in and closed the door behind herself. She faintly recalled being in a similar room when Remus taught her how to fight her boggart.

"So talk," Gail said after a few minutes of silence. James had his back to her, "or is it that you have a spare wand kicking around and you're planning on hexing my brains out?"

"No," James said calmly, "look... I misunderstood Moony the time I used levicorpus on you. He was acting strangely and he wouldn't talk... and when we mentioned your name, he would start acting weirder..."

"So that was my fault, how?" Gail stared blankly at James' back, willing him to turn around.

"It's not," James sighed. He seemed to be denying a lot of things, "we thought you had... a problem with him being a werewolf or something... Really, I've never seen him act like that. I'm sorry I hexed you, I was out of line... I lost my temper and, well, I embarrassed you quite badly."

"And you're apologizing now because...?" Gail waited for a moment. James still hadn't turned around, and it was driving her nuts, "you're only sorry because Lily snapped at you yesterday."

James finally swung around. He was completely red in the face, "No. I'm apologizing because I feel bad about it. After all we've done to you... And then Remus said... and then Lily..."

He grabbed a fistful of hair. James had never looked like he was in so much pain before.

"Slow down," Gail said calmly, "now explain about Remus first."

"He's way too good," James laughed sarcastically. Gail noted how similar it was to Sirius' laugh. James continued quietly, "he's been pestering us to apologize to you for months and I really did want to before school was out."

Gail tapped her foot quietly, "and Lily?"

"She said I was no better than the Slytherins..." James released his hair to make a strange gesture, suggesting that such a thing was way off.

"Lily made you feel guilty, too?" Gail would have laughed if James didn't look like he was in pain because of the memory.

"She said she'd rather date the giant squid," James half-whimpered, rubbing his eyes behind his glasses.

Gail snorted, "that's not news, Potter. She's also said she would rather take the whomping willow to Slughorn's party. Personally, I think the giant squid might be better tempered. So if you look at it like that, then she might be thinking better of you."

"Right," James frowned at her for a moment, "how come you always know what to say? You're way too good at talking your way out of things."

Gail just shrugged, "am I free to go now, Mister Potter? Or are you going to force me to listen to you mooning over Lily?"

"Wait," James held up a hand to stop her, "first of all, am I forgiven or do I need to conjure a mass of flowers? Secondly, I'd like my _only_ wand back, please."

"As much as I'd love to say that I'll never forgive you, I think that would be a waste of my time. I don't have a horrible temper or long-term memory, like Lily. I'm just a little bit confused as to why it took you four months to apologize," Gail stated, pulling out James' wand and handing it to him.

"Er... well, I put it off. Sorry about that," James smiled apologetically, before trying to change the topic, "how far have you read in the notes?"

"Maybe a third of the way through them," Gail opened the book and pointed to the page, "it's been a huge help in studying for the Transfiguration exam."

"That's pretty good," James smiled fondly at the notes, "you're progressing faster than Wormtail. I'm sure that he's still not completely confident turning into an animagus."

"How long did it take you?" Gail asked, keeping her voice low as they exited the room.

"Oh, closer to two years. Sirius was faster; he's naturally good at Transfiguration. It's like he understood all of the notes while he was writing them."

"I see... Well, I'm gonna go," Gail said quietly, pointing down the hallway towards the Great Hall. James nodded his head and walked off in opposite direction. Gail decided to keep their conversation to herself. Lily didn't need to know that James had apologized, yet.

* * *

Transfiguration was a piece of cake to Gail, who had been studying and memorizing the animagus notes. She was happy to discover that Dirk had been wrong about the Care of Magical Creatures exam. There was only one part on Tuesday morning, and it was as hands-on as the class was. Gail was easily able to impress her examiner with her knowledge on the different creatures, as well as her capabilities. The man had even given her a few bonus marks for explaining the problem of feeding sick, baby unicorns.

"It's unwise to feed the unicorn unless you know what's wrong with it," Gail had explained to the tester, "if it has an upset stomach, a small amount of apple sauce mixed with milk would do. If it was having trouble digesting the food, then it would need some remedial potions and some pitted cherries."

After the Care of Magical creatures exam, Gail was quite glad that she only had two irrelevant exams left. Lily spent most of the afternoon reviewing for Potions. Gail didn't bother, she wouldn't be taking the course even if she passed the exam with an O. Gail was more worried about Astronomy, which would be held at night. There wasn't really any reason for her nerves, though. She was well practised in drawing star charts. It wasn't overly difficult.

All afternoon, Gail was unable to focus on any one task. Lily had eventually shooed her away, saying that she was a distraction to those that were serious about the last few exams. Gail wandered around the grounds by herself for a while, until it started becoming dark outside. It was finally time for her to head to the Astronomy Tower, where the Astronomy exams was scheduled to be held.

Gail was really early, but it didn't matter to her. She claimed one of the good telescopes while she waited for the other students and examiner to arrive. The temperature started to drop as the stars started appearing. This made Gail quite glad that she had decided to wear her warmer school robes. She was still shaking though, more from the butterflies in her stomach. Gail was jerked around by her stomach when the next person arrived.

Remus gave her a sad smile when he reached the top of the stairs. He moved towards one of the telescopes that were far away from her. It took very little for her stomach to plummet back down to normal.

The examiner arrived right on Remus' tails. He looked quite cheerful to see two students arrive so early for the exam. With a flick of his wand, the instructions landed beside each telescope, along with the parchment they were to use during the exam. Students slowly started showing up and claiming the different telescopes. Eventually, the examiner started speaking.

"Read through the instructions to see what you will be mapping tonight. Do your best. You may begin."

Gail quickly read over the instructions, noticing that quite a few of the constellations were listed, along with some important planets and stars. It wasn't overly difficult to map out the constellations, from her memory and by looking at the sky. She felt she had done well enough by the end of the exam.

"Alright, time's up," the examiner called, "it looks like everyone's finished. Well done. _Accio_."

The examiner gracefully caught all of the exams and held them under his arm before he spoke again, "you may all leave."

Gail stashed her quill and ink away in her bag before slinging it over her shoulder. She joined the flood of students who were eager to leave the Astronomy tower after their exam. She was about to head down the hall way when she felt a hand grab her shoulder and direct her in the opposite direction. The hand was boney, but not all that thin. There was more power behind in hand than Gail thought.

When Gail had stopped being directed down the deserted hallway, she turned around and found Remus looking down at her. He looked quite tired and pale. The full moon must have been a few days before the start of exams.

"Gail, I'm sorry..." Remus started, his voice more hoarse than normal. Had "Moony" been howling a lot?

"For what?" Gail frowned at him, "I was the one that acted like a prat."

"Well, I can't deny that," Remus said slowly, taking a few steps away from Gail, "but it was my fault that Sirius and James thought it would be fun to hex you. For that, I'm sorry. Also, on behalf of Padfoot, who never apologizes for his bad behaviour-"

"Don't start," Gail snapped at him, "or else you'll be talking until you're blue in the face."

The silence between Gail and Remus lasted so long. It was almost as awkward as the time that Remus had told Gail that he was a werewolf. For whatever reason, Gail couldn't read the emotions in his eyes; they seemed rather foreign to her. She wondered for a moment if he was angry at her for something.

"Sorry," Gail said quietly.

Remus' stare lightened, and he looked a little confused, "for what?"

"I called you heartless. It's not true. You're very kind, Remus," Gail said quietly. She could feel her cheeks heat up, so she dropped her dark gaze to the floor in an attempt to hide her blushing cheeks behind her hair. In an instant, she could feel Remus standing closer to her. She could feel the warmth from his chest on her arm. She didn't have the courage to turn her head to look at him, though.

"Gail," Remus whispered into her ear, taking his time in wrapping his long arms around her. He pulled her close into a hug. Gail was encircled with the smell of dark, bitter chocolate, butterbeer and a hint of an earthy smell. Before she knew what she was doing, Gail had closed her eyes and curled up against Remus.

When she came back to her senses, Gail opened her eyes to see Remus smiling at her fondly. He seemed to be enjoying having her cling to him, even if it embarrassed her a slightly. For the first time in her life, Gail couldn't find any words to explain her actions. She really didn't understand what was going on in her own head.

Remus blowed a current of air into her face, "who's a wimp now?"

"That's mean!" Gail cried, playing along with Remus' gentle teasing. Her stomach finally settled and there seemed to be a warmth in her chest that had been missing for months. She wasn't quite sure what the meaning of it all was, but it felt nice. Strangely, she was more relaxed than she had been in six months.

"Sorry, I'll make it up to you," Remus mumbled. His eyes locked on hers for a moment before he leaned his head in.

Just before Remus' mouth could come into contact with Gail's, there was a loud crash in the hallway. Gail jumped and released Remus. His reaction was quite similar, he released Gail from his arms and jumped backwards.

"Fatty Forester and Loony Lupin! FATTY FORESTER AND LOONY LUPEY!" Peeves cackled wickedly, zooming over their heads menacingly, " Looney loopy Lupin LURVES Fatty Forester!" With that, Peeves sped off down the hall, singing his wicked little song as he went.

"One of these days, I'm going to get him," Remus said darkly, watching the poltergeist fly away before he turned back to Gail. He looked half pleased with himself, for some reason, but he was still quite pink in the cheeks.

"Oh?" Gail asked quietly, catching Remus' gaze. He smiled softly before offering his hand.

"If you would? My hands are rather cold..." Remus remarked.

"Hmm... As long as you don't set Potter and Black on me again," Gail joked before taking Remus' pale hand in her own. The two walked back to the common room. They didn't say a thing to each other, instead they spoke through the warmth of their hands.

* * *

The next afternoon, Gail completely failed to focus during her Potions exam. She ended up mixing up the ingredients that were supposed to be used in her draught of peace. Near the end, she accidentally used syrup of moon flower instead of syrup of hellebore. She was sure that hers would turn out the worst, as she had completely forgotten to crush her flightstone into a powder. She was also quite sure that she was supposed to have used moonstone, instead.

At the end of the exam, her potion was a deep shade of blue, but at least it was still a liquid. Next to her, Avery was standing over a cauldron of white paste. A few cauldrons in front of her, she could see that Lily's cauldron was emitting a silvery vapour. Gail turned her eyes down to stare at her pitiful potion that was starting to emit puffs of blue smoke.

"This exam is almost over," the examiner called, "please put a sample of your potion in a flask. We will be coming around to mark you."

Gail quickly pulled out a small flask and filled it with her strange, blue potion. She set the flask down in time to find her examiner walking over to her. The woman looked quite young, in comparison to the other examiners.

"Ah, let's see..." The woman glimpsed into Gail's cauldron, her eyes widening, "oh my, I think I'll need to check your records."

The woman's hand shot out and grabbed the piece of parchment that had been charmed to record everything Gail had done. The woman stared down at the list of what Gail had done, "this is the oddest reaction I've ever seen... It's like you weren't even trying for a Draught of Peace..."

At that moment, Gail could have laughed. She really hadn't cared to make the draught at all. She hadn't been paying attention the day they had learned how to brew it in class, and she most certainly didn't review how to make it.

"Hmm..." The witch probed the potion with her wand, inspecting it, "strange, very strange. You may receive some marks simply for making a unique potion, Forester, but I'm afraid we'll have to test it within a few days to see what properties it has... If it does anything at all."

"Sure," Gail responded shortly, "hopefully it's not toxic."

The witch only smiled and whisked the rest of Gail's potion and cauldron away. The examiner added Gail's flask and records to the collection at the front of the Great Hall before turning to Gail, "you may leave now, dear. Well done."

Gail left as quickly as she could, catching up to Lily at the door.

"How do you think you did?" Lily asked her nervously, "I mean, mine had the right effect and-"

"Lily," Gail cut her friend off, "I invented a new potion, apparently. That's just how bad I did. Anyway, how could Sluggy's favourite get anything less than an O?"

That quieted Lily for a few minutes. When she finally opened her mouth again, she questioned Gail, "how bad was it? Grey steam?"

"How about... Blue clouds," Gail joked, "I screwed up at least two of the major ingredients, and who knows about the order."

"It didn't explode, though," Lily said knowingly, "that's one of the common problems. That would have earned you a T."

"To match my T in History of Magic?" Gail smiled at her friend before reaching her arms above her head in a stretch, "at least our last exam is over. Pity the kids in Ancient Runes... They have an exam tomorrow."

"Mmm... Avalon is freaking out about it," Lily agreed lightly, "but she'll do just fine."

Gail and Lily walked side by side all the way up to the common room. Gail, who was worried that her monstrosity of a potion would poison someone, soon forgot all about it. Sitting in the common room were the four marauders. They had taken over the couches next to the fire. Gail only caught a snippet of their conversation while she was walking by.

"Mine was giving off a dull grey steam," Remus was saying, "I think the temperature was too high when I added the syrup of hellebore."

Sirius snorted, "mine turned red and looked like lava. I'm pretty sure it'd have exploded if I stirred it."

"Good job, Padfoot," James was saying as the two girls made for the stairs to the girl's dormitories, "making something volatile enough to blow up the examiners. _Sure_, you'll get an O."

"Oh, Evans just snuck by with Gail," Peter squeaked when Lily had already run up the stairs. Gail turned around and offered them a small wave before following her.

* * *

**Author note:**

I made the Astronomy exam a little different than the others, where students are free to arrive early for the telescopes that have been positioned in the best spots.

Gail's potion could possibly be the strongest poison every created by a wizard?

I really enjoyed writing the chapter. It was great. The last chapter of their fifth year. -sniff- Did everyone pass their exams? Oh hoh!

Wait and see!  
-Rue

* * *

**The Comment Gallery**_  
Host: Gail Forester  
Special Guest: Sirius Black_

Gail: Welcome to the Commentery. The big idiot, Sirius Black, is here today. Hey, idiot.

Sirius: What are you saying, woman?

Gail: I'm saying you're stupid.

-Gail kicks him in the face-

Gail: HAHA! I win.

-Sirius holds his nose, in pain-

Sirius: I don't think so. That was dirty you-...

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-Sirius looks disinterested-

Gail: Ur... First review. GO.

-Gail atomic pinches Sirius' neck-

Sirius: Ouch! Fine. Thanks for the review _Apocolips_. Your support is appreciated.

-Sirius is very deadpan, earning him another kick-

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-Sirius turns to you and mouths "help me"-

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-Sirius chases Snape around with a cheese grater-

Gail: Ahahaha! My Peter impression is a secret, okay? Thanks. You are cool, unless you pay over $300 for a piece of wood that's been made to look like a wand. For that kind of money, I want to see a movie prop of some sort. Daniel... Mmmm...

Sirius: Or one with real unicorn hairs in it.

-Gail smacks Sirius-

Gail: Well, the next review is from _Musik Drache_. Yes, Rue is a doomy author, and yes, poor me!

Sirius: What's a computer?

Gail: It's muggle technology. I should have Arthur come here, sometime.

Sirius: -deadpan- That would be fun.

Gail: Our last review is from _Angel of Apathy_.

Sirius: There should have been a chapter on MY worst memory. It would have been way more entertaining than reading about that slimy git, _Snivellus_.

Gail: Oh, I'm sure. Rue said she always thought that there should have been more chapters showing the marauders... Or maybe a whole book on 'em.

Sirius: Wait... Impressions?

-Sirius glares at Gail-

Gail: Ho-hum, no clue what they're talking about. heheee~

Sirius: . . .

Gail: That's all the time we have today! Go visit Rue's profile for a _new poll_! See you next chapter!


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

The summer was hotter than normal, especially in the tiny flat.

It had been decided among the _adults_ that Gail would be staying with Gideon and Fabian Prewett. The Weasleys had taken in Mrs. Prewett, and with their newborn son they didn't have any room for an extra person, let alone the energy to take care of her as a guest. Fabian had said that his nephew had been named Percy Ignatius, after his grandfather and his great uncle. Either way, Gail found that living with the two brothers was quite enjoyable. The two were always pulling little jokes on one another. They were not as well behaved as Mr. Prewett had thought.

Gail soon found out that the brothers were part of an organization called 'The Order of the Phoenix'. One or both of the brothers would leave the house to help deal with attacks on muggles and wizards. They made her swear to tell no one about it, since it could put Gail in danger if she ran her mouth off about the Order. Gail wasn't every overly worried. The two brothers always came back just fine. It seemed like the Death Eaters weren't interested in starting a full out war... yet.

Life was as busy as ever for Gail. The fifth nursery needed every bit of attention that it could get and when she wasn't working, she was busy studying the Marauder's animagus notes. Gail continued to work with the hippogriffs. There was another batch of newborn ones that needed caring for, and the ones that Gail had helped raise the previous summer had been released into protected areas, like the Forbidden Forest near Hogwarts. Wicket remained at the nursery, though, because of his attachment to the area. He was used by the managers of the nursery to show the newborns how to fly.

There were quite a few other newborns in the nursery, as well. Two new unicorns had been born, but both were quite healthy and were ready to be released into the Forbidden Forest in a few months. There were also some newborn bowtruckles and one demiguise that had been caught recently. Gail couldn't see the demiguise, so she wasn't the one taking care of it.

Today was her day off, and she was waiting for her OWL results, as she had the feeling they would arrive soon. As if on queue, a large brown owl dropped through the open window of the small kitchen and landed on the wooden table. The bird held out its right leg, with a rather bulky looking letter attached to it.

Gail took the letter and the bird immediately flew back out of the kitchen. Nerves wrapped around Gail's stomach. It took all of her courage to rip open the letter and actually read the grades. Her stomach flipped as she read.

_ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL RESULTS_

_Pass Grades: Outstanding (O) __  
Exceeds Expectations (E)  
Acceptable (A) _

_Fail Grades: Poor (P)  
__ Dreadful (D)_  
_Troll (T)_

_ABIGAIL LYRE FORESTER HAS ACHIEVED:_

_Astronomy: A  
Care of Magical Creatures: O  
__Charms: E__  
Defence Against the Dark Arts: E  
Herbology: E__  
History of Magic: D  
Potions: P  
Transfiguration: O_

Gail's stomach leapt in happiness. She had know that she would pass Care of Magical Creatures with an O, but she had never thought that she could have such a high mark in Transfiguration. She had probably tied for the top grade with Sirius or Remus. She wasn't lying that their notes were really good, likely better than any other textbook. It was also true that her memory had become better over the years; she never thought she would have been able to get six OWLS. As for the other classes, it was probably for the best that she drop Potions, History and Astronomy, anyway.

Strangely enough, there was another letter attached to her grades. Gail quickly unfolded it and read it.

_Ms. Forester,_

_Your grade in Potions has been increased one letter because of the results of your potion. The potion that you mixed did not have the correct effects for a passing grade, but there were some strange effects, which include the temporary ability to fly and hover. The side effects that have been noticed include: temporary telekinesis, mood swings, stomach pain, dizziness, temporary clumsiness._

_We have included your recipe and will have recorded you as the creator of this Flight Potion. A memo will be sent to the British Ministry of Magic, Department of Magical Transportation. Congratulations on your achievement._

_Hoping that you are well,_

_Griselda Marchbanks_

It took Gail a moment to realize what had happened. She had originally received a D in potions, but because the potion she created had a use, they bumped her grade up to a P. Without delay, Gail rushed over to Fright's cage. The owl had been staring at her with his brilliantly yellow eyes. He hooted softly in greeting.

"Hey Fright... Can you take a letter to Lily Evans for me? Make sure to get her reply, and don't peck her..." Gail cooed to the bird. She scribed a quick note to the redhead detailing about her potion and the results of her owls. Gail attached the note to the bird's leg. With a happy hoot, Fright flew out of the window.

"What's going on?" Fabian walked into the kitchen, still clad in his sleep wear. He was rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"Did I wake you? Sorry," Gail smiled sheepishly at him, "I just got my OWL grades."

"Oh, lessee," Fabian grabbed the parchment, "blimey, only two failing grades. Nicely done. Sent an owl to Mum?"

"Er... Not yet, I will when Fright returns," Gail shifted slightly. She supposed it would have been more prudent to send a letter to Mrs. Prewett before Lily...

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure she'll be visiting today," Fabian joked with her, "you don't have to look so worried. What's that?"

"Oh, my disaster during the potions exam lead me to invent a new 'flying' potion," Gail grinned at him, "apparently, it grants the user temporary flight."

Fabian looked a little shocked, "really? Useful... They give you the recipe back?"

"Yeah," Gail laughed, "little good it'll do me, though. I'll never be able to reproduce the same potion."

As Fabian was about the answer, the flat's door swung open. Gideon Prewett staggered in through the door with a man leaning on him. Gail faintly recognized him because of his electric blue eye. Fabian was up in a minute and beside his brother before Gail could even blink. Together, the brothers helped Alastor Moody into the kitchen to sit him across from Gail.

"Spell took his leg cleanly," Gideon was saying, "we really should get him to..."

"I'm not going," Moody barked, "it's not so bad that I need to go to St. Mungos. Hand me my wand, I'll heal it myself... And for Merlin's sake, get that girl out of here."

Gail, who had been shocked by Moody's appearance and was going to see if she could help, was rather taken aback. Fabian gestured that she should leave the kitchen.

"Not something for a kid to see," Moody grunted. Faintly, Gail heard a ripping sound, but she didn't re-enter the kitchen. She really didn't want to watch a man mend what was left of his leg.

Within a few minutes, Gail was joined by the three men in the living area after a few minutes. Gail noted that Moody had transfigured something to work as a prosthetic limb. With all three men staring at her, she became rather uncomfortable.

"You created the Flying Potion, didn't you?" Moody finally asked her. Gail nodded meekly in response.

"Would you mind if we took the instructions?" Gideon asked, "the potion would be a great help to the members of the Order, to be able to move without a broom and virtually undetectable..."

"I'm not sure how well they tested it," Gail conceeded, "but if you can find some use for it, go ahead and take it."

Moody patted his pocket, "I'll be taking the letter, too. Don't want that to fall in the wrong hands."

Gail nodded silently, watching Moody leave the flat. When he was gone, she finally got up the courage to ask, "is he fine to be going alone? He just lost his leg..."

"And a chunk of his nose," Fabian quipped, "he's a pretty tough man to heal everything himself."

* * *

Over the next few days, Prewett brother's flat was visited quite a few times by people Gail had never seen before. Every time, one of the brothers would ask Gail to remain in the living room. They were undoubtedly talking about stuff to do with the Order. It wasn't Gail's place to listen to the information they were discussing, either. Throughout her stay in the flat, she constantly closed her mind off to all information regarding the Order, although she did find out that the flat was being protected by a Fidelius Charm... Whatever that was.

Gail was glad to get a letter back from Lily while she was sitting in her room.

_Dear Gail,_

_Congratulations on your marks. I only got an E in Transfiguration. How did you do that? Of course, I got an O in History of Magic, Charms, Potions and Arithmancy. I was surprised to hear that your invented a potion, and it wasn't even toxic. Congratulations._

_Lots of love,_

_Lily._

_Ps. Your owl is a little frightening. He keeps staring at me like he's going to attack. That's why this letter is so short._

When Gail finished reading her letter, she smiled faintly. So Fright had intimidated Lily? That was strange to her, because she had been someone scared of Lily during the first few years at Hogwarts. Fright was a terribly cute owl, and he always behaved when Gail asked him to.

"Here you go," Gail handed the burrowing owl a treat, "thank you for taking the letter to Lily for me."

Gail brushed her tanned hand over Fright's head. He hooted softly before returning to his cage. Gail had placed the cage on the ground because Fright seemed to like it better down there. Within minutes, Fright was asleep in his cage. Quietly, Gail pulled a blanket over the cage to create some darkness for the owl to sleep in.

Faintly, Gail heard the flat's door open again. A familiar voice echoed through the flat. Mrs. Prewett had come for a visit. Her footsteps led up to the door to the living room, which was flung open.

"Gail, dear!" Mrs. Prewett bustled over to her and pulled her into a tight hug. Gail noted that the woman was a lot thinner than she had been the last time they'd met. There were also dark circles until Mrs. Prewett's eyes, and her hair had more grey hairs than in the past. When the woman pulled out of the tight hug, she smiled tiredly up at Gail.

"How have you been? Eating well?" Mrs. Prewett asked sharply, "you're looking rather thin, dear. Far, far too thin..."

Gail returned the woman's smile. It was true that she hadn't eaten a home cooked meal while living with the brothers, but they got by. She wasn't going to die from starvation, "I'm fine, Mrs. Prewett. How have you been? Busy with little Percy?"

Almost immediately, Mrs. Prewett burst into tears. The woman started sobbing uncontrollably, clinging to the from of Gail's clothes. Her shoulders were shaking and the rest of her small body was trembling in sadness.

"There there," Gail wrapped her arms around the old lady's shoulders, much in the same fashion that Remus had hugged her, "that's right. Let it all out."

When Gail looked up, she saw Gideon and Fabian standing in the doorway. They looked a little lost, like they didn't know how to deal with their crying parent.

"Fabian, go make your mother a cup of tea," Gail commanded quietly, "Gideon, help me move her into the kitchen. It's more comfortable in there. Come on, Mrs. Prewett. That's the strong woman I know."

Gail coached the woman into the kitchen and sat the little woman into a chair. Gail fetched a box of tissues and offered it to Mrs. Prewett. The ginger haired woman grabbed a few and blew her nose like a trumpet. After a few minutes, her sobbing quieted and she was able to wipe the rest of her tears away.

"I'm sorry, Gail dear..." Mrs. Prewett said between hiccups, "I didn't mean to..."

"It's fine," Gail fondly patted the woman's hand with her own, "you've been bottling it inside, haven't you? Because you don't want your grandchildren to see it."

"I didn't want Molly and Arthur to see it, either," Mrs. Prewett said quietly, "I'm just being an old, doddering woman. There's really no use for me."

"Of course there is," Gail said squeezing the woman's hand, "I'm sure Molly is happy to have your help with the children. If that's not enough for you, I'm sure Professor Dumbledore could find a job for you in the Order."

"Yes," Mrs. Prewett finally looked a little more positive, "I suppose I could help Albus out. Hmm..."

"Don't go giving her any ideas," Fabian said, setting a cup of tea in front of his mother. Mrs. Prewett smiled at him before taking a sip. Fabian continued, "it's become more dangerous recently. For everyone."

Mrs. Prewett's head snapped up, and she focused a watery glare on her sons, "you two don't go doing anything dangerous. The last thing I want is for you to get k-k-killed like my Perse..."

"Don't worry, Mum," Gideon soothed his mother, dropping a hand onto her shoulder, "we're capable adults now. Besides, we watch out for one another."

"That's true," Mrs. Prewett took another tissue and wiped her eyes, "you two always did look out for one another, even at Hogwarts. Such good boys... Perse would be very proud of you two, standing up to You-know-who."

"We won't let him get away with murder," Fabian said shortly, a dangerous flicker in his eyes, "not if we can help it. Anyway, how are the Potters? We haven't heard from them in a while."

Mrs. Prewett turned to look at Gail, "they took in your boyfriend over the summer. Emilie was so happy to have another son..."

"What?" Gail gasped, "Sirius and I broke up after a few months... what happened?"

"I heard he ran away from home," Mrs. Prewett said quietly, "Walburga was saying that she had no son, other than Regulus. I think there was probably a fight, I just don't know what it was about."

"So Sirius went to live at the Potters' house?" Gail sighed. She was glad that the little troublemaker had somewhere to go after running away from home.

"I also heard from Iggy that Alphard Black passed away recently, and left most of his money to Sirius," Mrs. Prewett sighed sadly.

"So there's nothing to worry about," Gail concluded, "Sirius has been taken care of."

* * *

The summer passed by too quickly. Gail was sad when she had to bid Gideon and Fabian good bye when she boarded the train back to Hogwarts. She had been even more upset when she had to leave the fifth nursery for another year. It hit her that the next summer would be her last year of internship. She was looking forward to becoming a full time employee.

Gail was pleased to find most of her dorm mates in their regular compartment. For some reason, Melanie and Avalon were missing. They were all comparing their OWL grades when she entered. They didn't notice her until she sat down next to Lily and spoke.

"Hey Lily," Gail greeted the girl, who had been avidly comparing marks.

"Hey Gail... Gail?" Lily's head whipped up, as did Jo's and Amber's. They all offered her a greeting before turning back to what they were doing. Jo was reading over Lily's shoulders.

"Jo, how could you fail Potions?" Lily grumbled, "now I'll be the only one taking it."

"I didn't fail, I just received an A in it," Jo snorted, "like I want to take it. Slughorn is such a creep."

That made Lily quiet down, though she was still seething slightly. Her hand shot out to Gail, gesturing that she wanted to see Gail's grades. Digging in the pocket of her sweater, she pulled out the scrap of parchment and handed it to Lily.

"Don't bother, Lily. I didn't even pass Potions," Gail said calmly, "hate that class..."

"Yes, but you'll be able to take Charms, Transfiguration and Herbology with me," Lily beamed at her, "Jo only got an A in Charms."

"You aren't taking Care of Magical Creatures?" Gail was somewhat disappointed by this.

"Nope," Jo said calmly, "we don't need it for anything... Like you do."

"I guess..." Gail sighed. She hoped at least one of the marauders would continue on in the class. It would be horrible if she was the only Griffindor left.

Without warning, the two missing blondes stumbled into the compartment through the open door. Both girls looked a little messy.

"Good snogging session?" Amber asked the two of them with one of her eyebrows arched suspiciously.

"Oh yeah," Avalon laughed, plopping herself next to Amber and attempting to straighten out her clothes and hair, "Michael Thortin is one piece of... Oh, and guess who I caught snogging Sirius Black again? Little Melanie was quite busy..."

Jo blanched, and her eyes darkened as she stared at Melanie. Without a word to the blondes, Jo got up and left the compartment. Melanie just looked puzzled when she asked, "what was that about?"

"Merlin!" Amber cried, "you were snogging the one boy she's liked for ages again, Mel. Can't you ever think about other people?"

"Meh," Melanie, flicked some of her hair over her shoulder. At that moment, Gail felt like hexing her for being quite arrogant and insensitive.

Within a few minutes, Jo came back into the compartment looking quite smug and pleased with herself. Her cheeks had a slightly rosy glow.

"You finally asked him out?" Amber stood up. Jo nodded briskly, turning slightly more red in the face. Amber offered her a handshake, "well done, mate. It was about time. Going to the first Hogsmeade with him?"

"Yes," Jo said bashfully, not even paying attention to Melanie's horrified look. She also ignored the contemptuous, cold looks she was receiving from Lily. Gail was surprised that Amber was congratulating Jo, after the way she had been staring at Sirius during their final exams, the previous year.

"So, how are things going with Jeremy?" Gail asked Amber, mostly to change the topic. The blonde's eyes lit up immediately. She looked so pleased with herself.

"I went to his summer house in France and stayed with his family for a few weeks," Amber gloated happily, "it was lovely. I had a wonderful time."

"Did the naughties, didn't you?" Avalon asked, not even looking up from her book. Her voice was deadpan.

"Er-" Amber grinned cheekily, "yeah, I guess."

"Oh ho! Someone has done the _naughties_!" A voice came from their open door. Out of the corner of her eyes, Gail saw James' head.

"Oi, Evans..." James started, but was cut off by Lily.

"Potter, how many times am I going to have to tell you. I'm not interested in-..." Lily was about to shut him down, but he protested right over top of her.

"I was going to ask you how your summer was," James said cooly. Gail admired him for keeping his temper hidden around Lily. He nodded briefly to Gail before walking away. She noted that he kept all hints of a "swagger" hidden, as well.

"What was that about?" Lily asked cautiously after he had left.

"I reckon he came over to ask you how your summer was, Lily," Gail laughed, watching the redhead's cheeks flare up.

"Oh... Really," Lily sniffed indignantly.

* * *

**Author Note:**

Summer is gone too fast. Always. Sniffle~

I'm sorry this update is a little late. I just went shopping with my mum. I bought Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them AND Quidditch Through the Ages. So fun. I almost bought the Beetle and the Bard, too, but I decided not to...

Today, there'll be an extra scene, because I want to show everyone's OWLS.  
The setup is rather ridiculous. Sorry about that, fanfiction doesn't support the original setup, and I'm not going to fiddle with it for hours.

-Rue

* * *

_Extra: OWL SCORES (an X means dropped course)_

_ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL RESULTS_

_Pass Grades: Outstanding (O)__  
Exceeds Expectations (E)  
Acceptable (A)  
_

_Fail Grades: Poor (P)  
__Dreadful (D)  
__Troll (T)_

_LILY EVANS HAS ACHIEVED:_

_Arithmancy: O  
Care of Magical Creatures: E [x]  
Charms: O  
Defence Against the Dark Arts: E  
Herbology: E  
History of Magic: O  
Potions: O  
Transfiguration: E_

_JAMES POTTER HAS ACHIEVED:_

_Care of Magical Creatures: A [x]  
Charms: E  
Defence Against the Dark Arts: O  
Divination: D [x]  
Herbology: E  
History of Magic: P [x]  
Potions: A [x]  
Transfiguration: O_

_SIRIUS BLACK HAS ACHIEVED:_

_Care of Magical Creatures: A [x]  
Charms: E  
Defence Against the Dark Arts: E  
Divination: D [x]  
Herbology: E  
History of Magic: A [x]  
Potions: D [x]  
Transfiguration: O_

_REMUS LUPIN HAS ACHIEVED:_

_Astronomy: O  
Care of Magical Creatures: E  
Charms: O  
Defence Against the Dark Arts: O  
Herbology: O  
History of Magic: O  
Potions: E  
Transfiguration: O_

_JOAN THESTILE HAS ACHIEVED:_

_Arithmancy: A [x]  
Care of Magical Creatures: A [x]  
Charms: A [x]  
Defence Against the Dark Arts: E  
Herbology: O  
History of Magic: E  
Potions: A [x]  
Transfiguration: E_

_AVALON CLACK HAS ACHIEVED:_

_Arithmancy: O  
Charms: E  
Defence Against the Dark Arts: E  
Herbology: O  
History of Magic: E  
Potions: A [x]__  
Transfiguration: E  
Study of Ancient Runes: O_

_MELANIE RANGE HAS ACHIEVED:_

_Arithmancy: T [x]  
Charms: D [x]  
Defence Against the Dark Arts: T [x]  
Divination:__E  
Herbology: __A [x]  
History of Magic: __D [x]  
Potions:__P [x]  
Transfiguration:__T [x]  
_

_AMBER BUTTON HAS ACHIEVED:_

_Arithmancy:__A [x]  
Charms:__A [x]  
Defence Against the Dark Arts: E  
Divination: __O  
Herbology:__A [x]  
History of Magic:__P [x]  
Potions:__A [x]  
Transfiguration:__P [x]_

_

* * *

  
_

**The Comment Gallery**_  
Host: Gail Forester  
Special Guest: Remus Lupin_

Gail: Welcome to the Comment Gallery. Remus stopped by today. How's it going, Remus?

Remus: Well, thanks.

Gail: So how'd you do on your OWLs? Fulls Os?

Remus: Hardly... I had two Es, and six Os.

Gail: It's strange that Rue made the class count 8, max. That's definitely AU.

Remus: Well, I'm assuming that's because Rue wanted Astronomy to be an option, because it's not really important to any student. She also wanted to make two out of the three astronomy lectures to happen during the day [which explains the fourth year]. That would mean that the students only spend one night a week actually star gazing, the rest is all theory.

Gail: Genius, it's exactly how university classes work.

Remus: Sure it is. Shall I read the first review?

-Gail sits on Remus' lap-

Gail: Our first review is from _Angel of Apathy_. I'd dig a big book of maraudering too.

Remus: We are cute, aren't we?

-Remus smiles peacefully-

Gail: Yep. We sure are.

Remus: The next review is from _Sunni_. It looks like it was cut off or something.

Gail: Niffler at it.

Remus: Oh, I see. Yes, Astronomy is one of the few classes that don't get described a lot.

Gail: I hate exams. Urgh!

Remus: Here here. I hate them even more after a full moon.

Gail: Yeah, that must have sucked during Charms.

Remus: It's a good thing I'm quite good at Charms, or else I might have gotten another E.

Gail: I've never seen so many Os. Even Avalon had an A in potions, because I don't think she reviewed for it.

Remus: Er... Well, the next review is from _Musik Drache_. MD, thanks for supporting us.

-Gail blows a kiss-

Gail: The next review is from _Collylocks_. "Remush" is mine, but I will tell you that Rue has accidentally typed "Remust" a thousand times.

Remus: How about Rebus?

Gail: Oh, your name is far too easy to twist around.

Remus: Like Gail isn't. Gale, Abbey, Abs...

Gail: Please. Never call me _Abbey_. Never.

Remus: Our last review is from _MaxRideRox_.

Gail: We noticed you were missing! You were grounded? Tsk tsk.

Remus: Ten points from muggles.

Gail: I agree. Snape is quite the insensitive jerk, but I assure you... James won't let you down. He loves hexing and pranking Snape more than anyone else.

Remus: It's true.

Gail: Aww. You even named Jo, Melanie, Amber and Avalon. Thank you!

Remus: That reminds me, is Melanie really that stupid?

Gail: I just don't think she tries. She seems to like Divination, so she tries harder there... I think if the other classes caught her interest, she would have worked harder for the finals.

-Remus scratches his head-

Gail: As it is, she'll be taking one NEWT level class.

Remus: What'll she do for the rest of the time?

Gail: Dunno. I've never asked her.

Remus: Hmm...

Gail: Well, it looks like that's all the time we have for today.

Remus: Gail, can you get off my lap now? Losing circulation.

-Gail jumps up-

Gail: Oh sorry, Remus... Er...

Remus: See you next chapter.


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

Sixth Year

Timetables for the fifth years took a lot longer than the other years. McGonagall would painfully go through the results of their OWLs before accepting their class requests. Both Avalon and Remus were the quickest, neither received bellow an E on their OWLs. Melanie was probably the worst of all of the students. Poor Minerva McGonagall's face went quite red as she was talking to her. It sounded like Melanie could only take the NEWT level of Divination.

Gail was one of the last of the the fifth years to get her timetable. McGonagall seemed to brighten while looking at her grades.

"Well, Forester, it looks like you've worked hard to improve your Transfiguration grade. Well done. It looks like all of your classes are fine," McGonagall smiled, "although, you won't be able to take Potions, but I think you expected that."

"Thanks, Professor," Gail smiled. She had a break during the first period, followed by Charms and lunch. She had Thursday and Friday afternoons off, to her relief. She hoped that the homework wouldn't be so demanding, so that she would be able to finish memorizing the rest of the animagus notes.

"It looks like our first class is Charms," Lily beamed at her, "we have an hour to wander around first... Or we could start reviewing!"

"We have two years, Lily," Gail groaned, "don't worry about the NEWTs so much. We just got over our OWLs."

"Yes, but they'll be harder than we can even imagine," Lily said frantically. Gail wasn't really paying attention. She noticed Severus Snape. He was standing on the other side of the Great Hall with his dark hair dangling in his face. His dark, longing gaze was fixed on Lily. Snape was quite pitiful, but there wasn't anything Gail could do. Lily had obviously severed all ties with him, and was blissfully unaware of his stare.

"Oye, Evans. Gail," James greeted the two girls, standing in Gail's line of sight, blocking Snape from her view. Sirius took his spot next to James, staring warily at Gail and Lily. He didn't say anything, but Gail was sure that he expected a fight, eventually.

"How's it going, Potter? Received any OWLs?" Gail nodded at him.

James laughed, "only a few. See you in Charms. Come on, Padfoot, Moony is waiting."

Lily stared at James' retreating form with her mouth hanging open. It took her a few minutes to ask Gail, "what just happened? Wasn't he... and you...?"

"It looks like he's matured a little bit over the summer. Looks like he grew taller, too," Gail commented airily, "and maybe he's a bit more handsome."

"I don't think so, Gail," Lily laughed weakly and wouldn't make eye contact with Gail, "let's go."

* * *

Classes had certainly become more difficult in their sixth year, if Gail could judge the classes by Charms. It was likely to be one of her hardest class. They were to start using non-verbal spells, and Gail did not have talent for it. Lily was a natural, though; she had already performed several non-verbal charms.

Gail was quite glad to be heading to Care of Magical Creatures after lunch, even if she was the only female Griffindor taking the class. She wasn't sure about anyone else from the other houses. It didn't look like there would be very many students in the class. A few Hufflepuffs were standing around the normal Care of Magical Creatures area. Gail's heart jumped when she saw familiar figure.

"Remus? You're continuing in Care of Magical Creatures?" Gail greeted him as she walked up to him. He turned and greeted her with a smile.

"Of course, I need to learn how to care for my furry little problem," Remus responded, cheerfully, "and it's a nice vacation from the others."

Gail slid her hand into his before she responded, "I'm glad. It would have been horrible to work by myself."

Kettleburn finally appeared in front of his hut. He stared at the sixth years, "only six of you, eh? Come along, then. This year, you'll be raising even more difficult creatures."

Around the other side of the hut, Kettleburn stopped by a crate with a blanket over the top. The professor looked impressed for a moment, before taking the blanket off of the crate and turning to face the group of six students.

"What are nifflers?" Kettleburn asked them. One of the boys from Hufflepuff put up their hand, and he pointed at them, "Singe?"

"They're treasure hunters, sir," Kyle Singe answered, "they're usually very gentle, but they'll attack for shinny things."

"Well done, five points to Hufflepuff," Kettleburn grinned at the teenager. Gail sighed, it was truly unfair that Griffindor hadn't won a house cup since she'd arrived at Hogwarts because of the marauders.

"Make sure you remove all of your jewellery and anything shinny before you grab one. I have a litter of six here, so each one of you can come and get one," Kettleburn told them, "by next Thursday, I would like each of you to write a two feet about your experience raising your niffler. You have just over a week to work on it. I expect it to be at least at the sixth year level."

Gail carefully removed the earrings Lily had given her and her bracelet. She tucked the jewellery into her bag, which she left in the area that Kettleburn had set a few protective charms to keep the nifflers out. Remus had been waiting for her, even though he wasn't wearing anything shiny. Together, they went and picked out a niffler each.

"They're so cute," Gail smiled down at hers, tickling it with her finger. She had chosen the runt of the litter; it would give her a bit more of a challenge to help it grow up healthy. The nifflers all had the same, black fur and long noses. Their long bodies were almost reptilian in appearance.

"Cute..." Remus repeated, shaking his head, "I'm not so sure..."

When each student had grabbed their own niffler and had settled themselves in the grass near the hut, Kettleburn cleared his throat and called attention to himself again, "now that you all have one, please put a collar on your niffler. You will be able to pick out which one is yours by the colour of the collar."

Kettleburn went to each student and handed them a different coloured collar and a bottle with some food for the nifflers. Gail received an orange collar and Remus got a red one. When Kettleburn wasn't looking, Remus pulled out his wand and charmed the collar to display his name.

"What did you do?" Gail stared over at his collar, that had his name shown in elegant letters. Remus just smiled at Gail and pointed his wand at hers, causing the orange collar to show "Abigail." She nodded her thanks to Remus.

After fastening the collar onto the runt's neck, the niffler tried to get the collar off of itself, but to no avail. Whatever charm had been placed on the accessory, it wouldn't work.

"Time to have some lunch, Runty," Gail soothed the niffler down by stroking his head before offering it the bottle. Happily, little Runty latched onto the bottle and started drinking.

"How'd you do that?" Remus asked, still attempting to get the collar onto his niffler's neck. It was putting up some resistance in having the non-shinny object place on its neck.

"Oh, they like being stroked on the head and scratched on the thick fur on their necks," Gail commented, "when he's distracted, pull the collar on quickly and continue to pet him."

Remus followed her instructions, scratching the niffler's neck and looping the collar around quickly. Soon enough, his niffler was eating as well. The teenager gave an appreciative look to Gail. Runty had finished eating, so Gail gently patted the creature's back, as she would an infant. With a small hiccup, little Runty fell fast asleep in Gail's lap.

"You're good," Remus laughed, "it looks like Kathryn Bodeur, the Ravenclaw, is still struggling to get the collar onto her niffler. It looks like it's going to bite her..."

Sure enough, Kathryn's niffler snapped at her fingers. Annoyed, the Ravenclaw dropped the creature to the ground. Kettleburn was over beside her in a minute. He quickly scooped the niffler up and placed the collar on it. He then turned to the girl and tapped her finger with his wand, mending the cut quickly. Kathryn's good looking friend, Jeremy Watson, was almost in tears from laughing so hard. Gail remembered that he was still dating Amber; she made a mental note to tell the blonde that Jeremy was in her Care of Magical Creatures class.

The two Hufflepuffs were equally amused with Kathryn, but were more discrete about their laughter. Kyle Singe and Michael Thortin were two of the golden boys in Hufflepuff. It was strange how Gail had come to know their names over the last two years in the same class, but she still didn't know them too well. Avalon had admitted to snogging Michael, though, because he had become more attractive over the summer.

Remus was still the most attractive of them all, in Gail's eyes at least. He had a streak of silver in his hair that hadn't been there last year. Out of nowhere, she felt like asking him many personal questions about what he had done over the summer, if he had visited anyone, if he had wanted to write to her... But she didn't. It wasn't the right time to talk so intimately.

Remus had soon "burped" his niffler, too, but it didn't want to sleep the way Gail's had. Instead, he had conjured a silver ball for it to chase around. The infantile niffler ran in circles, trying to catch the shinny ball, but to no avail. Every time it got close, Remus would speed the ball up.

The rest of the class went by peacefully, once everyone had fed their nifflers. Gail even started on her niffler paper while Runty was asleep on her lap. At the end of the class, Kettleburn told the students that they could leave. After placing their nifflers back into the crate and covering the crate with a blanket, the students dispersed.

"Let's go for a walk," Remus suggested as they walked away from Kettleburn's hut. He gently took Gail's hand.

"How was your summer?" Gail asked quietly after they had been walking aimlessly for a while.

"Lonely," Remus joked, "it was decent enough. It's always nice to be able to spend some time with my parents... You know _my mum_ gets sick, right?"

"She does? Oh! Yes, I heard _she_ gets sick," Gail caught the sarcasm in Remus' voice. She laughed nervously, realizing that it was really him who had been "ill".

"What about you?" Remus asked seriously, stopping at the edge of the lake, "were you staying with Mrs. Prewett?"

Gail shook her head slowly, "Mrs. Prewett has been staying with her daughter, Molly Weasley, and they didn't have enough room for another person... So I stayed with Molly's two brothers. Their couch was comfortable enough-..."

"You slept on a couch all summer?" Remus looked a little mortified. He squeezed her hand a little harder.

"Next summer, I should have enough money to rent my own flat," Gail said calmly, "I heard Sirius left home."

"Oh, yeah, he got in a huge argument with his parents," Remus looked a little perplexed, "what makes you bring it up."

"Maybe I could convince him to be my flatmate," Gail smiled peacefully.

"I'm not so sure I approve of that plan," Remus frowned down at her for a moment, but his eyes sparkled with humour.

Gail snorted loudly, "yeah, I might kill him if I had to live with him. The Potters can keep him."

Remus suddenly switched his hand, so that Gail's right hand was captured by his right hand. He then wrapped his left arm around her in a half hug. They stayed glued to one another until it was starting to get dark. Gail's stomach started to grumble quite loudly, and she thought she felt Remus' stomach rumble in response. He dropped her hand for a moment at the same time that Gail reached into her pocket to pull out a chocolate bar.

"Want some-?" Both Gail and Remus spoke at the same time, each holding up a chocolate bar. Gail's threw her head back and laughed. She could feel Remus' chest reverberate as he laughed, too.

"How about we share?" Gail offered after she finished laughing. Carefully, she snapped half of the chocolate bar off and handed it to Remus, who did the same thing. She wasn't very surprised that Remus carried around some bitter chocolate. Hers was some Honeyduke's Milk Chocolate.

"You gave more more than half, Remus," Gail frowned at the lake as she grinded the bitter chocolate between her molars.

"So did you," Remus teased quietly, "milk chocolate? That's so like you."

"How is that like me?" Gail snapped, turning her head to examine Remus' pale face in the last moments of sunlight.

"Sweet," Remus chuckled, "and a remedy against icky dementors."

"Oh, and I suppose you want to be related to dark chocolate?" Gail spun around so that she could face him, "strong, complex, smooth or bitter?"

"Mm, maybe," Remus responded, leaning a little closer. Gail waited patiently with her eyes half-closed. Finally, she would have her first kiss with Remus. Her stomach was in knots, and she prayed no one got in the middle of their moment.

"Moony! Oye, Moony!" Remus pulled back slightly, a grimace sliding across his face for a moment. He spun around and allowed Gail to see who had just ruined yet another nice moment. Sirius and James were both staring incredulously at her.

"Snogging Gail?" James teased, tossing Remus a wink. Sirius didn't look so happy though.

"Not quite," Remus joked, "what's going on?"

"You were taking too long," Sirius snapped, staring at Gail darkly.

Gail sighed, "what is is, Snuffles?"

"You switched boys pretty fast," Sirius snapped, gesturing at Remus. The use of his cute nickname did not put him in a better mood, "or was he your target all along?"

Remus opened his mouth to protest for Gail, but she beat him to it, "haha... You're funny. What kind of person do you take me for? If I was like that, do you think Remus would play along? Have some faith in your friend, I'm not clever enough to pull that kind of thing."

Sirius looked like he was ready to jump down Gail's throat. She had definitely pushed some of his buttons by hinting that he didn't trust Remus very much. Luckily, James jumped in. He took Sirius by the arm and looked him in the eyes.

"You've already had quite a few girlfriends yourself, mate. You can't be upset with Gail when you moved on the next day," James stated, "anyway, why can't Remus date Gail if he wants to?"

Remus looked quite pained. It looked like he wanted to console Sirius. There wasn't anything she could do, so she pushed him forward gently. It was his turn to say something to the irate friend. The usually mellow, thoughtful Remus looked quite nervous.

"I really like her, Padfoot," Remus said slowly. Sirius' eyes turned to Remus. You could almost see his clock-like brain working. Eventually, his glare melted into a smile.

"Really, Moony?" Sirius beamed at him, "you finally found something more interesting than a book?"

"Aren't you dating Jo now?" Gail asked him sweetly. Sirius' head swivelled around.

"Yes, so?" Sirius asked, forgetting that he was supposed to be cross with Gail.

Gail laughed happily, "treat her well. She's probably the only one who'll put up with your mood swings."

"I _don't_ have mood swings," Sirius pouted, allowing James to sweep him away back up to the school.

"Sure he doesn't," Remus spoke very quietly, taking Gail's hand. They followed the two boys quietly back to the school. He didn't try to kiss her again, not with his two best friends there, and it was fine with Gail. It was a little off putting that the two boys were able to find them so easily, but that was what the Marauder's Map was for. Any uneasy feelings she had were soothed away by Remus' gentle hand.

"Want to eat dinner with us?" Remus asked her before they entered the Great hall.

"Why not," Gail agreed with a slight nod, "the others have probably eaten already..."

Gail was right in thinking that Lily and Jo would have eaten already. She briefly saw Amber and Avalon, but she still sat next to Remus at the Griffindor table. It had been a while since she'd had anything like a normal meal with the other boys.

"Hey Peter, long time no see," Gail greeted the boy, who was shovelling down whatever he could get into his mouth. He stopped for a moment to wave at Gail, before returning to his feeding frenzy.

Gail piled some food onto her plate. Her habits when eating had changed over the year. Grab what you can while there was food. Of course, Gail avoided the mashed potatoes.

"Good choice. It's the easiest to hide things in mashed potatoes," Remus laughed, also helping himself to some food.

"Sorry about Christmas," James said quickly, "it was too bad that you were the only one to eat the potatoes. I would have loved it if my dad ate some..."

"That would have been great," Sirius agreed cheerfully, "would have gotten him back for the previous year when he used trick goblets on us."

"I see where James gets it from," Gail muttered quietly.

* * *

**Author Note:**

Foiled again! I promise I will make their first kiss special, though, if it's the last thing I do! THE LAST THING I DO!

Next chapter is the beginning of a new arc. Are you as excited as I am? Woo~!

I have a question for all of you. Are you ready for it?? **Who is your favourite animal so far? The ones I've written have been: Ellflee, Wicket, little Runty, Mati and Fright. **

-Rue

* * *

**The Comment Gallery**_  
Host: Gail Forester  
Special Guest: Jo Thestile, Amber Button, Lily Evans_

Gail: Welcome to the Comment Gallery. It's a girl talk day. Jo, Amber and Lily decided to drop by and bug me.

Lily: That's not the only reason.

Jo: Sunni said I should come. Because I'm cool.

-Amber snorts-

Lily: That's only because you went and asked Sirius out... and he said yes.

Gail: Tell us how you did it.

Jo: Well... I just asked him and he said yes.

Amber: Exactly. Sirius says yes to everyone.

Gail: I'm sure... we'll just have to wait for their date. Hopefully that'll go well.

Jo: Er... First review... where did I put it?

Lily: I thought we were already talking about it. It's from _Sunni_.

Amber: Oh my... James Potter heard that, didn't he? I tuned it out. It's so embarrassing.

Jo: It's life. Can't expect everyone to be virgins forever, right?

Gail: That's right.

-Lily rolls her eyes-

Gail: The next review is from _Apocolips_. Thanks! We'll keep working on it.

-There's an awkward pause-

Jo: I found it! The next review is from _Angel of Apathy_. You're review number 100! Yay!!

Gail: That reminds me of a question: What did everyone do over the summer?

Lily: I went to Australia with my parents. Tuney stayed home because she had plans with her boyfriend, Dumbsley.

Jo: I spent the summer at home, practicing quidditch whenever I could fly.

Amber: Like I said: France, Andrew... It was lovely.

-Gail coughs-

Gail: The next review is from _MaxRideRox_. School isn't boring if you're at Hogwarts. Bwahaha!

Lily: Don't tease Max, Gail. That's very rude of you.

Amber: Don't worry about Melanie too much. She'd snog a troll if it asked her.

Jo: I'm sure she has.

Gail: Awww... Baby Jayden. Cute~

Lily: Gail... I hate to tell you this, but your idea of cute spans too far.

Amber: That's for sure. Dragons?

Gail: Dragons are cute. Have you ever seen a baby dragon?...

Lily: We had better cut her off here, before she can start rambling about having a pet dragon.

Jo: Drop a review with an answer to the author's question.

Amber: See all of you next chapter!

-Gail waves-


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

The Transfiguration workload was huge. All of the other work from Gail's other classes couldn't collectively surpass Transfiguration. McGonagall really outdid herself in assigning two papers due for the next week on two different topics. Luckily, neither paper was to be overly long. The strict professor was probably saving the longer and more difficult papers for later in the year.

"I'll meet you in the Great Hall in a bit," Gail said to Lily after Herbology, "I need to go to the loo."

Lily nodded firmly before darting away. Jo followed her. The dark haired girl had been more upbeat lately, she seemed to really be looking forward to going on a date with Sirius. Gail was happy for the girl. Hopefully, she would be able to make Sirius really happy.

Gail entered the girl's lavatory. She was greeted by a shriek of sadness. Moaning Myrtle appeared before her. Myrtle's toilet overflowed again because of the tearful ghost. Of course, she really didn't need to use to the loo, she had been wanting to drop by the bathroom and see how Myrtle had been. Gail hadn't visited the ghost in a long time.

"Hello Myrtle," Gail said slowly, "I'm sorry that I was rather busy with my OWLs. How have you been?"

"Oh, don't mind poor, dead, MOANING Myrtle," Myrtle sobbed, "no one cares about her!"

"I care," Gail responded quickly, "why else do you think I visit you every chance I get?"

Myrtle sobbed loudly and seemed to cheer up before her tone went back to normal, "it's nice of you to visit. My u-bend had been rather lonesome lately. No one comes here except you..."

Gail visited with Myrtle for a few minutes before deciding that she couldn't take the any more of the ghost's complaining. She quickly bid Myrtle good bye and promised to visit her again later. As she exited the bathroom, she noted a rather large, blue crystal laying on the ground. Gail quickly picked it up with the intent of giving it to a Prefect or one of the Heads of Griffindor. Unfortunately for Gail, towards the Great Hall, there was a large gathering of students. They didn't appear overly friendly, so Gail did as any other student would during the times. She turned and went the opposite direction to avoid being hexed by them. She eventually came to a staircase.

"This is some shortcut," Gail muttered to herself as she trudged up the stairs. She managed to get herself a little bit lost and somehow made it to seventh floor before she heard someone coming up behind her. Turning to look, she saw a group of three Slytherins that she did not want to meet up with. Perhaps they had been following her from the second floor bathroom, but she really didn't know.

"Oh look... it's Forester. HEY FORESTER! YOU HAVE SOMETHING OF OURS!" Gail heard Rosier call behind her. She took off down the hallway. She really didn't know what they were talking about; she had nothing of theirs and she wouldn't give it back if she did.

"Give us back the sapphire, Forester," Avery called, "and we won't hurt you- Much."

Gail knew she needed a place to hide, or at least store the gem until she could give it to a professor. It was likely that Rosier and his two friends had stolen it from somewhere. A strangely familiar tapestry appeared; the trolls were being taught how to dance. Gail remembered walking by it several times in the past with both Remus and James. Perhaps if she walked back and forth in front of the tapestry, a few times, she would find a good place to hide the gem.

After the third pass by the tapestry, she heard the footsteps getting closer. Luckily, the door appeared to the room. Gail quickly pulled open the door and flung herself in. When the door closed behind her, Gail found herself in a rather small room with a bunch of broken furniture. There seemed to be a stuffed troll guarding the miscellaneous items that had been stored within the room. Gail was fascinated.

There were several swords laying in the room. Gail walked over to one and picked it up. It felt rather light and comfortable in her hands, almost familiar. It was too bad that the sword was so rusted, it would have been nice to take it back to the common room and claim that it was Godric Griffindor's sword, just for fun. James would probably enjoy her joke.

What really caught her eyes, though, was a small cage with the skeleton of a five legged creature in it. Gail remembered reading about quintaped. They were truly frightful creatures that liked the taste of humans. Perhaps this creature had been left to guard the hidden items, too, along with the stuffed troll.

Gail continued to examine some of the other items in the room. She had temporarily forgotten that there were Slytherins outside of the room; perhaps they'd left already. None of the items seemed to be magically enchanted. Gail saw no strong sign of residual magic, that was, until she noted a delicate looking, silver circlet. She felt the urge to stare at it increase the longer she looked at it. It was the strongest presence of a soul she'd ever seen. The longer she stared at it, the more dark shadows seemed to form around it. The shadows seemed to engulf the little crown, swallowing it whole. It soon became an atrocity. The disfigured item became hideous, almost malicious towards Gail's eyes. And yet she couldn't take her eyes off of it.

The world around Gail spun in havoc. Before she could even blink, the room seemed to fade away and turn almost grey. All of the life and radiance of the school became muted. There was nothing but silence.

"Who are you?"

Gail swung around to see a rather attractive boy standing in front of her. He wasn't really normal though. He was as translucent as a ghost. His eyes shone with danger as he glared at Gail. He finally repeated his question.

"Who _are_ you?" This time, there was a strange force in his voice, weak though it was. Gail was sure that this wasn't his full power. She only felt slightly inclined to reply to him.

"Gail," she responded, forcing her name out of her throat. She was about to ask him who he was, but another figure floated into view.

"No," the handsome boy whined, "she's mine. I will control her..."

The figure seemed to solidify from the shadows of the room. The man looked familiar. His face was lined with sadness and regret. White hair crowned his head. Gail wished she could see the colour of his eyes, but the world around them was black and white, making it impossible. She felt that if she could only see his eyes, she would know him...

"No," the man whispered softly. There was an edge of magic in his voice, "Tom Riddle, you will not control her. Her power will consume you. Leave. Now."

The boy became more ghostlike with every second of the man's appearance. The man seemed to become more solid as time went on. Eventually, Tom Riddle became nothing more than a shadow in the room. He wasn't completely gone, though. He seemed to be howling in pain for whatever reason; a sound that caught in the silence like the wind.

"Oh, my _Lyre_..." The man spoke in a whisper, "you have seen something that you never should have seen; an item of dark power and corruption. I must ask you to leave and never think of looking at it again."

"Who are you?" Gail finally asked, "and who was that boy?"

The man smiled wistfully, "that is no boy, but a shard of a wicked man's soul. It's time to leave. We've been here to long. This place is becoming unstable because of him..."

"Wait," Gail cried, mortified that the man was slowly dematerializing. The man almost looked at her tearily, "am I crazy? What's going on?"

The man smiled sadly at her, shaking his head. He offered her one final whisper before he vanished completely, "you'll know what to do. Now go."

The man's words were final. Gail felt herself slipping out of the cold world and back into reality. Tom's shadow disappeared completely. She found herself back in the room of hidden things, fighting the urge to scream in frustration. She wished the man had given her some answers.

She was glad that her back was to the dangerous item. There was no way she would have been able to resist staring at it again. Gail quickly pushed that out of her mind as she exited the room. The door disappeared behind her. To her relief, there were no Slytherins waiting outside for her. Gail left the eerie silence behind her as she sprinted down the hallway. All sense of time had left her. As she was bustling past the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, Lily grabbed her arm.

"Where were you, Gail? You said you'd meet me in the Great Hall..." Lily questioned her, oblivious to Gail's somewhat agitated state.

"Oh, sorry," Gail pulled her mind back together, "I got chased by some Slytherins and ended up hiding in a broom closet on the seventh floor."

"No wonder you look so pale and shaky," Lily commented, pulling Gail into the class and forcing her to sit near the front.

The only Griffindor that didn't make it into the NEWT level was Melanie. It wasn't overly surprising since she'd use the time in class to clean her nails. The other students took Defence Against the Dark Arts quite seriously; it would be useful in their lives considering the attacks on wizarding families by Voldemort's supporters. The other Griffindors greeted Gail quite loudly. There were definitely more Griffindors in the class than any other house.

"So why were they chasing you?" Lily asked after sitting down. She turned head so that she could use her emerald eyes to stare expectantly at Gail.

"Oh, I found something on the ground and they said it was theirs, which I doubt, so I'm holding onto it until I can give it to a professor," Gail said, calming herself down quite a bit. What she'd seen was just in her imagination, hopefully. Perhaps she should visit Dumbledore again. Yes, that would do. She could give him the sapphire at the same time.

"Good going," Avalon said, "I'm always confiscating stuff. It's great fun."

"Mmm," Gail grunted in response, not really paying attention to Avalon's ramblings about her Prefect skills. Instead, she had turned the wrong way in her chair to watch Remus enter the class. He offered her a shy wave, which she returned.

"Oh~ Gail!" Amber squealed, ignoring Avalon's pout at being interrupted, "have you found _love_?"

Jo snorted, "come on, Amber, you know she isn't like that. You should ask her if she likes someone, first."

Amber frowned, not really paying attention to Jo, "Gail, do you have someone you'd like to date?"

"Oh, I think we're already dating," Gail said quietly, "but I could be wrong."

"Who?" Amber pestered her, grabbing onto her sleeve, "who? Who? Who? Who? TELL ME!"

"Oye, Button, your voice carries so far," Sirius shouted across the room.

"Yeah," James joined in, "if you wanted to know Gail was dating, you should ask us."

Remus seemed to go quite red in the ears, but he was bent over his papers, so Gail couldn't make out his face. He made no response to the questioning stares of his classmates. When Gail had finally freed her sleeve from Amber, who was very embarrassed now, she turned her gaze to the front of the class. Yet another new instructor stood at the front of the class. He was their sixth new professor. The curse of the Defence position had struck again.

* * *

It took Gail a while to break away from her friends for two reasons. The first reason was because Lily wanted to stick close to her and the other reason was that she had started feeling rather unstable. When she had plucked up her nerve, she used the excuse of handing over Rosier's stolen gem to head to Dumbledore's office, alone. Halfway there, she realized she didn't have the password. Instead, she went to McGonagall's office and knocked half heartedly on the door.

"Yes?" The stern professor opened the door of her office, looking slightly irate, "do you need something, Forester?"

"Professor, I'd like to speak with the headmaster," Gail said quietly, "it's rather urgent... he said I should talk to him if I see anything strange."

Minerva McGonagall looked slightly disturbed, but nodded, "he said that you might come to me requesting to meet with him. Very well, follow me Forester."

Gail followed the woman all the way to the griffin statue. McGonagall held the door open to the office, gesturing for the girl to enter before closing the door behind her.

"Ah, I was wondering when you would get here," Dumbledore smiled at her as he swept out from behind the desk, "I noticed a disturbance in the school's wards and protective charms today. I assume it was your doing?"

"I'm not sure," Gail slumped slightly before digging her hand in her pocket.

"Well, how about you tell me the story?" Dumbledore suggested, "I would like to know if there is a flaw in this school's defences."

"Er, well..." Gail stuck her hand into her pocket to pull out the sapphire. She quickly handed it over to Dumbledore, "it started with that. See, I picked it up and the supposed owners wanted it back. I don't see why Evan Rosier would have such a thing at school, so I was going to give it to a professor... But they chased me all the way to the seventh floor."

"I see," Dumbledore made no protest that Gail would ever hand in such a gem. He examined the gem closely, "this looks like it came from one of the armour suits in the Entrance Hall. Thank you for returning it... As you were saying?"

"I wanted a place to hide it," Gail said slowly, wondering how she should word her next thoughts. It was probably not the best to give James and Remus away as the founders of the room, "I found a room where many things were hidden."

Dumbledore offered her a tiny nod, so she continued, "and there was a strange silver... tiara thingy in there. When I looked at it, the presence of a soul was stronger than anything I've ever seen. It made the paintings in the school look like child's play."

The headmaster seemed to straighten slightly. Gail noted that she had his full attention, "as I stared at the thing, the soul became more visible and darker... I then found myself in a grey area talking to a boy named Tom Riddle."

"Riddle?" Dumbledore asked, his blue eyes wide in shock, "go on. What did this boy say to you?"

"He really didn't get to say much, because I think... Well, I don't know who he was," Gail hesitated, "but a man showed up and he sort of scared Tom Riddle away."

"Did he say anything to you?" Dumbledore asked quietly. Gail didn't know what to think about the episode. Something had definitely happened, but was it all in her head?

"He called me by my middle name, _Lyre,_ just like the words written on my bracelet," Gail said quietly, "and he said I would know what to do."

"It might have been your 'father' who showed up," Dumbledore offered, "but that would mean that he is no longer among the living. It would mean that he used part of his soul to alter your memory. Whatever happened today likely destroyed the rest of his power over you."

Gail nodded shakily, "but sir, that doesn't make sense. Not really..."

"He used the remainder of his power, perhaps out of his love for you, to protect you from being manipulated," Dumbledore said calmly, "but I must ask you not to go looking for the silver crown again. I will see that it is destroyed, myself."

Dumbledore seemed to stare at her for a moment, before placing his hand on her shoulder, "please don't tell anyone of what you saw today. I believe you, because you mentioned a name that not many would dare speak. But others would have a hard time believing you."

"Yes sir," Gail agreed shakily, "you'll destroy it? It's really ugly."

"Ugly?" Dumbledore asked, a twinge of a smile forcing the corners of his mouth upwards.

"Well," Gail paused for a second to rethink her explanation, "not the item, really... It's the soul that's really ugly. It looks really malicious and dark. The man, my father I guess, said that the item was a dark creation that I should never have set my eyes on."

"I'm sure you were never meant to see it," Dumbledore chided, directing Gail towards the door, "likely no one was to see it. Very well, Miss Forester. It's time for you to leave. I must bid you good night."

"Good night, Professor," Gail said weakly. As she exited his office, she felt a huge weight lift from her chest. She wasn't just crazy and Dumbledore had proof. Her mind spun in happiness over the news.

* * *

**Author Note:**

This is just the beginning. Hopefully, the arc will span at least two more chapters. Who is Gail! Maybe I'll finally reveal it... Maybe.

Do you guys like being asked questions? Here's another, just for fun: **What's your theory on Gail?**  
I'm interested to see what you think. Someone has already hypothesized that she is a horcrux...

Okay, update again tomorrow.

-Rue

* * *

**The Comment Gallery**  
_Host: Gail Forester  
Guest: Arthur Weasley_

Gail: Welcome to the Comment Gallery! Please help me welcome Arthur Weasley.

Arthur: Hello Gail. It's nice of you to have invited me to appear on your show. Very interesting...

Gail: You're welcome. First of all, I think it'd be amusing to answer some of your questions about muggles. Do you have any?

Arthur: Of course I do... Let's see. What is the use of carpet?

Gail: Oh, carpet is used like a charm to catch burglars and thieves.

Arthur: Really? That's interesting... How does it work?

Gail: When the thief brushes against the fibers of the carpet, it sends an electrical current out of the ground which will stun the person quite badly, like taking two or three stun spells to the chest.

Arthur: Oh, I see. It could really be dangerous.

Gail: Yes, the only way to protect against it is to remove your shoes. Your socks will protect you.

-Arthur writes this down-

Gail: So I guess I should announce which animals were the most popular. They were: Mati, Wicket, Fright, and Runty, in no particular order. I'm happy that my pets are more popular than the others. Two of you even put that you liked all of them. Aww!

Arthur: Shall I read the first review? It's from _Angel of Apathy_.

Gail: You hit the nail on the head, again! Shortly, everything will be revealed.

Arthur: This person is a muggle? I have a very serious question for them. What is the exact purpose of a conventional oven?

-Gail laughs-

Gail: The next review is from _Musik Drache_. I love all of them too... And Remus. But don't tell him, yet!

-Gail blushes-

Arthur: You there! How exactly does a computer work?

Gail: ER... the next review is from _MaxRideRox_. Oh my, that's one long review. I fear that there will be a shocking lack of pranks in the next few chapters, but rest assured that the marauders pull more pranks than I could ever list.

Arthur: What is the use of a fax machine?

Gail: Oh yes, Ellflee is the hippogriff that the students met in their fourth year. Remember how James almost screwed it up? I'm thinking that Ne-yo wasn't singing in the 70s...

Arthur: Definitely not. What's a KNEE-YO?

Gail: Er... Lily doesn't stare at James... Nono~ Not yet. Too fast, my grasshopper. Too fast.

Arthur: Is it my turn to read a review? It's from _Madame J. Pontmery_. I must say, that name sounds familiar. I think I knew a Pontmercy while I was in school.

Gail: Fright is so cute.

-Gail loves her owl-

Gail: Okay, the last review is from _Sunni_. Lily isn't in her "zone" yet, you're right. James is still his normal, obnoxious self, but at least he's trying to come across as more human...

Arthur: He's a lovely fellow, really... He explained how rocked engines work. I never knew that dragon farts were that powerful...

Gail: Ah... Yeah. Sorry, I couldn't bring lil Runty in because we're not allowed to take them out of the crate except to take care of them. Remember, nifflers can be dangerous if you're wearing jewelery. They also can't be left inside a house because they will tear apart the inside while looking for treasure. So remember, kids, don't try this at home if you manage to catch a niffler.

Arthur: What's the purpose of a washing machine?

Gail: That's all the we have. See you next chapter!


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

The first week of school went quite well for Gail, aside from the pile of homework. Luckily, she had enough spare time during Thursday and Friday afternoon to complete her three papers, twenty Charms questions and extra Defence non-verbal practice. She decided to spend the rest of the weekend getting as far in the marauder's notes as she could. The other girls had decided to spend that Saturday in Hogsmeade, doing who knows what, so Gail was alone in the library.

It was just after noon when she felt something brush past her side. Gail quickly looked up from the notes to see James, Remus and Peter sitting at the same table as her. If that wasn't enough of a surprise, they were all looking at her.

"Oye Gail," James greeted her, running a hand through his hair casually, "alone again?"

"Yeah, I think Lily wanted to spy on Jo's date," Gail responded before turning to Remus and Peter, "hello Remus, Peter. How's it going?"

"We thought you'd like some company," Peter said chipperly, "we saw you on the map."

"That was nice of you three," Gail quipped sarcastically.

"Actually, we're going to help you memorize more of those notes. Questions?" Remus asked, pulling his chair over, so that he was sitting next to Gail and could read over her shoulder.

"Well, I've started memorizing the different parts of this diagram, see?" Gail pointed at the page. She had copied the diagram quite a few times onto a scrap piece of parchment, "but it's really difficult, there are at least twenty different parts, and they all have different meanings. I knew I should have taken Ancient Runes, it would have helped me decipher this drawing..."

Peter smiled brightly, "oh, I had trouble with that, too, until I developed an acronym for it."

"You mean Sirius made the acronym and you just added silly words to it," James corrected his plump friend, "it's the most important diagram you'll learn."

Gail, though, couldn't quite understand, "how could an acronym help?"

"Each part has a specific meaning," Remus explained, "that can be summed up in one word. If you take the beginning of each work, you can create the acronym. In Peter's case, he needs the silly words to remember it..."

With that, Remus scrolled down a series of letters on her scrap parchment. He wrote down IPSLDDIRSMIFIBSBFECE. He then continued to explain that each letter corresponded to a part of the diagram leading clockwise from the rune that looked like a horse shoe.

"Infinity, peace, serenity, life, depth, deviation, illusion, reality, scent, maturity, independence, freedom, internal, being, strength, bottom, future, emotion, constraint, ending," Remus listed the meanings.

"Or, if you're me and can't remember the long acronym, use 'in pixies so lovely, demons demonstrate irregular reasoning.' Those are the first eight. The next twelve are "sweet Merlin! I fly in brown, strong brooms for ever containing Earl'."

"In pixies so lovely, demons demonstrate irregular reasoning. Sweet Merlin! I fly in brown, strong brooms forever containing Earl?" Gail wrote that down too, it was far easier to remember than_ IPSOLDDIRSMIFIBSBFCE_.

"I think I've got it," Gail said happily after half an hour of memorizing the acronym. Peter looked a little surprised.

"Really?" Peter looked stunned, "test her, Prongs."

James took away Gail's notes but he left her a chunk of parchment, just in case, "okay Forester, here's the test. What are the twenty different meanings of the diagram?"

Gail quickly wrote down the beginning letters. That was easy enough. Then she just had to remember what each letter really stood for.

"Infinity, peace, serenity, life, depth... deviation, illusion, reality, scent, maturity, independence, freedom... internal, being, strength, bottom, future, emotion... constraint, and ending," Gail listed them off, pointing to each part of the diagram.

"Well done," Remus beamed at her, "you just covered about twenty pages in thirty minutes."

"We wrote those out before we came up with the acronym," James explained, "look, you're more than halfway finished."

"Uh huh," Gail smiled fondly at James before grabbing the notes back, "next part..."

They went through the notes for a few more hours, until Peter's stomach started growling quite loudly. He looked fairly embarrassed when Gail looked up at him after his monstrous stomach let out a hungry howl. His embarrassment vanished when he saw Gail packing up her things.

"Where're you goin'?" James asked casually.

Gail looked up, "I assumed that you would suggest we go to the kitchen, James. Am I losing my touch?"

James laughed deviously, "maybe I'm just becoming more clever with old age."

"Senile is more like it," Remus chided. He carefully wrapped one of his pale hands around Gail's as they left the library. Madam Pince looked fairly glad to see them leaving the library without having to be shooed out. Not that it mattered, but they had been the only students in the library.

"Did you get your two Transfiguration papers done?" Gail asked them. James looked like he'd been slapped for a moment.

"Oops... Hey Moony, help me write it later?" James smiled cheekily, throwing his arm around Remus, "I'll make it worth your while... I could teach you how to kiss a girl without being interrupted!"

Remus exhaled sharply, "I'm sure I don't need your help there, Prongs..."

"Please Moony? Ple~ase?" James pouted at his friend. Gail could almost see Remus' stiff resolve weakening. He really was weak against the demands of his friends...

"Fine, but you're not copying mine," Remus conceded, offering a slightly embarrassed smile to Gail.

"You could pay Melanie to write it for you," Gail said airily, "I hear she has a lot of free time..."

James wrinkled his nose and made retching sounds, "I could get higher marks than her by wiping Snivellus' nose on a tissue and handing it in. No thanks."

"Can't believe Sirius has snogged her... more than once," Remus frowned. He obviously didn't approve of Melanie.

"She's almost braindead, that one. Little more than a ghoul," James agreed with Remus, "totally wrong for Padfoot."

Peter snickered at the insults towards Melanie. It was a first that James wasn't making fun of him for being slow. Gail assumed it was also a first that James considered someone to be less intelligent, as well.

"I swear she was just dropped into Griffindor out of a whim," James continued, "I mean, she very well couldn't have made any of the other houses, right? Not clever, smart or loyal."

There was a loud sniff behind them. When Gail turned around, she saw Melanie sprint down the hall. Undoubtedly, the girl had heard everything when she exited the girl's loo. Gail would have felt bad for the blonde, if everything they'd said hadn't been completely true. The girl was more dense than a troll and it seemed that she had been snogging Sirius out of spite towards Jo.

"James..." Remus started in a sullen tone.

"I know, I know," James sighed heavily, "I shouldn't go running my mouth off about people that are less intelligent than myself."

Gail stared at the two boys, a hint of a smile creeping to her face, "she deserved it."

"What?" Remus looked aghast at Gail and momentarily dropped her hand.

"Yes," Gail said quietly, "she was snogging Sirius when she knew that Jo fancied him. Really fancied him. She acted like a snob towards the poor girl... Didn't even care how much she hurt Jo."

There was a momentary silence in which James took the time to mess his hair up, slightly nervously before muttering, "girls... sheesh."

Remus, though, still looked rather disappointed at Gail, "are you going to do the same thing to Melanie that Amber did to you? You being extremely unfair by taking Joan's side and you know it."

"Remus..." Gail felt a pang in her chest, "I..."

"Are you?" Remus asked more slowly, his eyes narrowing.

"Fine, I won't take a side," Gail finally said slowly, "but if Melanie really likes Sirius, she should have said something. If she was waiting for him to ask her out-"

"Which he wouldn't have done," James cut across her. He looked a little peeved that he wasn't the centre of attention.

"If she was," Gail continued, only darting a look to James, "then Melanie could have told us. I doubt that was the case, because she snogged a different boy every week last year."

"You're not seeing her side of things, Gail," Remus scolded her, but he seemed to have softened a little bit, knowing that she wouldn't be taking a side in the argument.

"It's a little hard to see when she doesn't speak to me," Gail sniffed grumpily, reaching for Remus' hand again. He grudgingly allowed her the contact, but he wasn't very happy about it.

"Hey, Wormy, tickle the pear," James commanded, as usual, when they reached the fruit portrait. Peter dashed forward, tickled the pear and then opened the door to the kitchen. Within seconds, several different house elves were keen to help them. In no time at all, the four had food piled in front of them.

"Miss Gail!" Flink squeaked, darting over to the four teenagers with her silver pendant bouncing on her chest. She offered a little bow to the three boys before practically throwing herself down before Gail, "oh, Miss Gail!"

"Flinkies!" Gail knelt by the wrinkly, little house elf. Flink turned her bright eyes up to Gail, searchingly. The elf didn't say a word, so Gail decided to ask, "what's wrong?"

"Professor Kettleburn asked me to deliver a message to you, Miss Gail!" Flink said shakily, "oh, but you mustn't go tomorrow, Miss Gail! The forest is dangerous. Too dangerous."

James looked up from his food, "you're going to help Kettleburn out in the forest tomorrow?"

"The last time I spoke with him, he said that he might need my help to appease the centaurs. Apparently, they're unhappy about a certain werewolf running around in the forest during the full moons. One of their foals got scared quite badly last time... Know anything about it?"

Remus paled slightly before staring apologetically at Gail, "we'll stay away from the forest in the future, okay?"

"Mm... I don't mind," Gail said quietly, scooting closer to Remus, "just as long as you don't do anything worse than scare the centaurs. _Snuffles_ and _Bambi_ can keep you in line."

"Bambi?" James stared at Gail with his mouth open. His face went quite red, all the way to his ears.

"I forgot _Nicodemus_, the rat," Gail said thoughtfully. Peter obviously didn't get the joke. Remus seemed to get the joke. He laughed quietly.

"Do I get a cute nickname?" Remus asked sweetly.

"Well," Gail pressed her pointer finger to her bottom lip in though, "I guess you would be _Jekyll_."

Remus did not look happy at this nickname. He frowned at Gail, "I think I'll stick to Moony..."

"I thought it was clever," Gail said shortly, before turning back to Flink, "thanks for the message, Flink. Don't worry so much. The forest isn't all bad if you keep your wits about yourself."

Remus still seemed a little upset about his terrible nickname when they were leaving the kitchen, so Gail took his hand firmly and grinned, "aww, my little darling is still upset..."

"Darling?" Remus questioned sweetly, smiling down at her, "I like that."

"Good," Gail returned his smile, "let's go, _Darling_."

* * *

Gail went to the edge of the forest early in the morning, the next day. She did not want to be around Jo when she woke up. The brunette had been in such a foul mood after her date that none of the other girls had been able to squeeze a word in between her ranting about how horrible the date was. Apparently, Sirius had shown as much of his good side as ever. He had been bored through half the date and in the middle, he stopped to throw a few hexes at a bunch of Slytherins. This caused an argument between the two of them; they were both rather hot headed. At least Jo didn't make the mistake of trying to drag him around where he didn't want to go. To make matters worse, Melanie looked utterly gleeful about it how dismal the date was. Just to spite the blonde, Gail suggested that Jo do something different for their next date, like playing one on one quidditch.

"Good mornin'," Hagrid greeted Gail nervously. He still seemed fairly shy around people. Gail couldn't blame him. He was a great deal taller than even her.

"Good morning, Hagrid," Gail greeted him back cheerfully, "is Professor Kettleburn up? I got a message from Flink saying that he needed some assistance."

"Ah, well, ye see..." Hagrid stumbled on his words a little bit. He seemed rather nervous, "I'm s'posed ter go wit' ye inter 'he forest. See, Kettleburn wanted ye to come wit' me cos yer really good wit' talkin'..."

"Oh, I see," Gail smiled fondly, "I'd be happy to come along with you, Hagrid. Shall we go?"

Hagrid nodded his shaggy head, "we're t' meet 'he centaurs at a clearin' soon. We'd better hurry..."

"Oh, okay," Gail was quite glad that she had woken up early. Carefully, she walked behind Hagrid as they went through the forest. This was one of the first times that she had been in the forest when it was still quite early in the morning. Hagrid seemed to slow his pace down somewhat when he entered the clearing. Apparently, they were early. Gail carefully stepped over a large root as she entered the clearing. It was one of the few places in the forest in which grass and a few other plants seemed to grow. She thought she heard a gnome giggle from within the clearing.

"Why have you brought a foal with you?" A deep voice questioned. When the centaur stepped into view, Gail was struck by how handsome he was. His dark black hair shone in the sunlight that made it through the canopy of the trees, "you are the old man's replacement, aren't you? You are Hagrid?"

A few other centaurs came into the clearing, as well. They looked wary of Hagrid, but they didn't seemed to mind Gail in the least.

"Well, I er-" Hagrid stumbled again. The more nervous he became, the less likely it was that he could get the right words out. Seeing this, Gail decided to step up.

"We've come here to discuss your plights and what we can do to fulfill our duties," Gail said calmly.

The centaur studied her for a moment while frowning. His voice was melodic when he spoke, "what would you know of duties, little one? You're not even fully grown yet."

"I know that you don't need our help," Gail said firmly, "which is a very admirable trait to wizards like me, who like sticking their noses in where they don't belong, but I also know that it's our job to take care of one another and ensure that both parties can survive in harmony."

"Spoken with a silver tongue," one of the other centaurs said with a very faint smile, "thank you for showing us respect. It's a fairly uncommon thing these days... Many intrude in our forest."

"We will deal with the werewolf if it causes us grief again," the leader finally said calmly. He hadn't removed his eyes from Gail the entire time. Gail felt Hagrid relax beside her as the centaur continued to speak, "it would be wise of you to advise your friends against wandering in the forest, little foal."

A few of the centaurs looked like they were ready to leave, but the other centaur that had talked protested, "you know that this one is no human foal, Bane. I have read it in the stars."

Gail looked alarmed, staring questioningly at the leader. He shook his head, causing his long, black hair to slide across his shoulders, "she doesn't know of it yet. It's not time..."

"What are you saying?" Gail took a few steps forward, into the middle of the grassy clearing. She had a clear expression of curiosity on her face, "I'm not a foal? But I'm a child..."

The centaur closed its mouth, shaking his head. It was apparent that Bane had shot down any chance she had of gleaning any information from him. He turned around to leave with the others.

"Please, tell me," Gail begged, taking another step towards Bane. She caught his dark eyes. His cold aura seemed to melt slightly, "who, or what am I? Please tell me..."

"You really want to know, child?" Bane asked, seeing her nod. There was silence for a while, before turning he turned his gaze to Hagrid, "leave the forest for today, Hagrid. We will bring the foal back to the edge of the forest when we have finished speaking with it."

"Wai'... Ye can no' jus' take 'er!" Hagrid looked around wildly, but it didn't look like Bane would back down.

"It's okay, Hagrid," Gail smiled as best she could, "I trust them. I won't come to harm and if I do, it will be my fault."

"Alrigh'..." Hagrid finally agreed after a few minutes of Gail staring at him pleadingly, "but ye be careful."

With that, the half giant turned and trudged back the way they had come. Gail was fairly sure that he would alert Kettleburn to her whereabouts, so they probably couldn't stay here. When Hagrid finally disappeared from view, Gail turned back to the dark haired centaur.

"Follow me, little one," Bane said calmly, turning around and leaving the clearing. Gail did her best to keep up with him. Although he was undoubtedly traveling more slow than normal, she still found that she had to hurry.

When Bane finally stopped moving, Gail walked right up behind him. They had stopped quite far away from the other clearing. There was no real surprise that quite a few other centaurs had shown up in the new spot. They all seemed rather curious about her. Gail had read that they were distrustful of all humans, but for some reason, they didn't seem to have a problem with her. Whether it was because she had spoken respectfully to Bane during their initial meeting, or not, Gail didn't know.

The tension slowly increased in the air as Gail waited for Bane to speak. He seemed to be studying her carefully.

"What you learn today," Bane finally spoke, breaking the silence, "you must not tell another. This knowledge is not meant for humans."

* * *

**Author Note:**

Chapter 33! And it's another cliff hanger. Oh, I'm so devious.

Props to mah homedog, _Collylocks_, who inspires me to make stupidly long Acronyms. Haha~

Okay, so the nicknames: Sirius is Snuffles, James is Bambi [made in 1940s], Peter is Nicodemus [The Secret of NIMH, etc. The book was written 1971.] and Remus is Jekyll [Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde; 1886], although he rejects that nickname because Gail gave it sarcastically...

-Rue

* * *

**The Comment Gallery**_  
Host: Gail Forester  
Guest: Bane_

Gail: W-welcome to the Comment Gallery... Er...

-Bane stares at her-

Gail: Bane is with me today. Erm... Welcome.

-Bane continues to stare at her-

Gail: We're broadcasting from the middle of the Forbidden Forest today, so uh...

Bane: -deadpan- I am the best centaur for the job. Now get on with it.

Gail: We have a new record for the number of reviews on one chapter! Thanks guys. So... Let's see, the first review is from _Apocolips_. I found the sapphire on the ground when I exited the bathroom. I'm not overly sure how it came to be there, but I think Rosier stole it sometime and accidentally dropped it there.

-Bane nods in approval-

Gail: The next review is from Angel of Apathy. It's okay, I was just wondering if yall had any theories. I slipped quite a few hints into the story, but I think they were too spread apart to make any kind of sense.

Bane: Humans have very little sense to begin with.

Gail: Er... Yeah. _MaxRideRox_ wrote the next review. Yes, you can be a grasshopper. "_Hoppitius._" Sorry, I don't think Sirius and Jo are QUITE there yet. Ehem...

-awkward moment-

Gail: Lily ignores much of what anyone says about James, unfortunately. She's a bit thick that way... So yeah...

Bane: Humans are very "thick" to begin with.

Gail: Especially if their names begin with S and end with EARIUS.

-Bane looks mildly amused-

Gail: So the next review is from _Musik Drache_. I believe that Arthur was using random sampling to collect the most amount of information possible... Not that he probably knows how to use statistics. EVIL INTENTIONS!

Bane: Unlikely.

Gail: You never know. Rue could be completely crazy.

-Bane snorts-

Gail: Ah, the next review is from _Sunni_. I can't tell you how much Rue dislikes Tom Riddle. _DISLIKES_! Very much so. He seemed rather rude to me, to tell you the truth. Nifflers and dragons and crups, oh my!

Bane: Humans...

Gail: We know, we know. The last review is from _Jonny Cake_. Thanks for reviewing, even if it was at 5am. This update really isn't good. I left it at such a cliff hanger, but there'll be another chapter posted tomorrow... BWAHAHAHAHA!! Ahem...

Bane: It's time for me to go, child.

Gail: Oh, okay. See you around Bane.

-Bane leaves-

Gail: I think that's all the time I have for now. Drop by Rue's profile to vote in the poll. See you next chapter!


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

"_What you learn today," Bane finally spoke, breaking the silence, "you must not tell another. This knowledge is not meant for humans."_

The dark haired centaur waited for Gail's agreement, which she gave, "I won't."

"Very well. Follow me," Bane turned from her and lead her into a thatch hut that was half hidden in the forest. The doors of the hut were large enough for the centaurs to walk through. Gail was surprised that the small hut opened into a larger area. The roof had been enchanted to look like the sky, much like the Great Hall had been.

Bane directed Gail into the middle of the large room. Several attractive, female centaurs turned to stare at her. There was one, extremely old looking centaur sitting on a straw bed. His face showed graceful lines of age, but he was no less attractive than the other centaurs. Gail assumed that he was the king of the centaurs, or something like that. He looked like he would have been taller than Bane in his younger years. His head was full of white hair, but his golden eyes shone with youth.

"Welcome to our home," the man spoke in a gentle tone as he pulled himself off the ground, "I have been waiting for you for many years, child."

The white haired centaur made his way toward Gail, his golden eyes fixed on her intelligently. His voice was somewhat rough because of old age, but Gail could imagine how wondrous it would have been when he was young, "I have read your coming in the stars for many years. The visions I have had do not do you justice... You are far more lovely than I could have imagined and your soul... It is far more _gentle_ than I could have hoped."

Other centaurs had begun entering the area. They lined up against the walls, watching Gail and the elder with curiosity. She was confused as to why Bane had deliberated in bringing her to the elder when he had been "waiting" for Gail.

"Can you... tell me who I am?" Gail asked meekly, feeling surrounded. She was being scrutinized by the centaurs. She didn't know what they wanted, but they didn't seem very hostile.

The elderly centaur broke into a laugh, smiling fondly down at Gail, "I am the chief of the Forbidden Forest centaurs. You may call me Fanin. Let me tell you a story."

The elderly centaur motioned for Gail to sit down on the bed of hay which he had just left. When she had, Fanin raised a hand and the ceiling immediately swirled in blackness. Silver stars eventually appeared, showing some constellations that she thought she knew from Astrology. She couldn't quite put a name on them, yet.

"There once was a boy who was favoured by the sun. One day the child was given a golden lyre by the sun god. As he grew up, the boy discovered that he had the power to charm animals of all kinds with his songs. The man eventually married a woman, whom he loved more than anything else in the world."

At this point, Fanin turned to regard Gail closely. She really didn't understand how she was related to the story, but she listened as he continued, "one day, his wife walked unknowingly into a den of snakes. Before she could realize her mistake, she was bitten on her heel and was killed from the poison of that bite. After her death, the man played such mournful and sad songs that all who heard them wept, even the gods of the land. The man, full of courage and love for his wife, descended into the underworld. It has been told that even the angry spirits of the dead wept after hearing his song. The ruler of the dead made a deal with the man; if he could walk all the way out of the underworld with his ghost wife behind him, without turning around, then he would have his wife back."

Fanin paused again, his golden eyes misting over slightly, "but the man failed. When he reached the upper world, he turned around to see his wife disappear. He had forgotten that she must also be out of the underworld before he turned around. Disappointed in himself, the man travelled the world for many years, singing his sorrows to any who would listen until the day he died. It is said that after his death, a flock of nightingales guarded the lyre until the mightiest god placed the golden instrument into the heavens."

Gail's mouth hung open for a moment. She had forgotten the story behind the constellation Lyra. She spoke before she could even wonder what it had to do with her, "that was Orpheus..."

"Correct," Fanin nodded at her, "that story is a myth that has been told and retold in Greece for years. Even our ancestors had a similar story, but with one small change."

Fanin's golden eyes drilled into Gail as he spoke, "we know for a fact that Orpheus' lyre was never placed in the heavens. We know not what magic it was, but somehow, that instrument became a living child, who had the same sunset coloured hair as his wife."

With that, Gail blinked a few times, "me? B-but that was a really long time ago. It couldn't have been me."

Fanin shook his head, "the remnants of a soul can be extremely powerful when mixed with strong, worldly emotions. This kind of magic has been lost to humans for ages, but we do not forget. It is our understanding that you have been frozen in time until Orpheus' magic ran out... It is likely that he used a good portion of his powers to force your body to grow from a newborn into a foal."

It was all too much to sink in at once. Gail had assumed that some nutter had deliberately put her an Imperius Curse for a good chunk of her life, but to have been... It was strange and it didn't make sense. How could an inanimate object become a living human being? It was codswallop. Did the centaurs really think she would believe such an inane story? In the back of her mind, she believed them, but there was no way that she would admit it to herself. Not yet.

"I see," Gail said shortly, as she stood up, "thank you for telling me that... story."

Fanin's warmth seemed to evaporate, as if he could sense what Gail was thinking, "child, you do not believe, but you will."

"I'm sure something will happen to prove that you're right," Gail said quietly, forcing the rudeness to not appear in her voice, "but as it is... I find it very hard to believe. It might be because I was raised as a human and given human memories, but-"

"That's enough," Fanin cut her off, "you will believe eventually. Know that the forest will always be open to you. Orpheus' power runs through you, you can not deny. You who have the power to bend all living creatures to your whim. You have always been exceptionally talented with creatures. We can feel it. Humans are too dull to feel it, but we can."

"I-" Gail began, but she was stopped by Bane, who stood up as well.

"Do you understand now, child? You are _not_ human," Bane said quite clearly, "and the power you hold is proof."

Fanin nodded to Bane before turning his golden eyes back to Gail. He pulled himself up to full height, "you will come back to us again, this I have seen, but for now Bane and the others will escort you back to the edge of the forest."

Bane scoffed slightly, but he still offered his back to Gail. It must have been humiliating for him to carry Gail, considering he was quite proud of his status. Once the little hut near the edge of the forest swam into view, Bane plucked Gail off of his back and dropped her to her feet. She was quite glad to be on stable ground again.

"Thank you," Gail said quickly, watching the centaurs move back into their forest. Sullenly, she made for Kettleburn's hut. It was probably a good idea to inform the two men that she was fine and that the centaurs had her over for tea.

"Yer alrigh'!" Hagrid cried, seeing her emerge from the forest. He looked like he'd been crying, "I was worried."

"Sorry for worrying you, Hagrid," Gail soothingly patted Hagrid's large arm. She noted that he seemed to relax right away, "the centaurs just wanted to have me over for a chat. As you can see, I'm perfectly fine."

"I told you she would be just fine, Hagrid," Kettleburn scolded as he came around the building, he nodded slightly to Gail, "ah, you'd best get yourself up to the castle for lunch, girl. You look like you could use a good meal."

* * *

Gail didn't see Lily or Amber in the Great Hall when she got there. Out of the corner of her eye, she noted that Jo and Sirius were eating together. It was likely that they had worked out their differences. It looked like Jo was feeding Sirius things off of her plate. Luckily for her, Gail saw Remus eating lunch and there was an empty spot next to him. Remus, who looked quite moody because of the disgusting interchange, was sitting next to Sirius and Jo.

"Hello Remus," Gail greeted him pleasantly enough, even though she was really tired.

The sandy haired boy turned to Gail slowly, a bright smile lighting up his face, "'lo Gail. How was the meeting with the centaurs?"

"Not bad," Gail responded, sitting next to Remus so that their knees were resting together, "you should probably be careful not to wander in the forest, they said they'd 'deal' with you next time."

"I'll be more careful," Remus said quietly, bumping his shoulder into hers. Gail noted that he had scooted further away from Sirius, who had playfully pulled Jo onto his lap. The two of them seemed quite rambunctious.

"Padfoot apologized to her," Remus said quietly, "for being a prat on their date."

Gail smiled fondly at Remus before she leaned her head onto his shoulder, "mmm... tired."

Faintly, Gail felt an arm snake around her. She didn't even bother to grab a plate of food. Her eyes were closed within a second with her head propped on Remus' slightly boney shoulder. She felt herself calm down quite a bit. The news that the centaurs had given her were pushed to the back of her mind by Remus' intense, warm aura.

"Someone is being clingy today," Gail heard someone say. It sounded like James, but she wasn't sure. Remus' hand was rubbing her lower back gently and making her lose concentration.

"I think she's just tired," Remus said quietly, Gail could feel his breath on her cheek for a moment. She was very taken with how nice Remus smelled at that moment. It was such a soothing smell. Remus chuckled quietly, "she's cute when she's sleeping..."

"Not sleeping," Gail responded thickly, opening one eye slightly to examine Remus, "too loud in here..."

"Perhaps we should go visit a nice tree outside," Remus suggested quietly.

"That would be nice," Gail yawned sleepily. Momentarily, she fancied the idea of having a quick nap with her head in Remus' lap. Before they left the Great Hall, she grabbed a few rolls, in case she got peckish later, "bye Potter, Snuffles, Jo."

Remus took her hand and led the way to a nice tree. It wasn't the same one that Sirius had claimed was his favourite, but it was equally big and provided ample amounts of shade to sit in. Remus pulled out a book as soon as he was sitting down. Gail carefully peered at the cover.

"Hairy Snout, Human Heart?" Gail read out loud, "what's it about?"

"A person with the same affliction as me," Remus responded quietly, "and how he dealt with it."

"Oh, can I borrow it after you're done?" Gail asked quietly, "it sounds fascinating."

Remus stopped reading for a moment to stare at her over the top of the book. He offered her a short nod before continuing to read. Gail, with nothing else to do because the fresh air wiped away all traces of her exhaustion, pulled out the animagus notes. They read in silence for about an hour, until Gail's neck started to become sore. She quickly put away the book, hoping to catch Remus' attention.

"Mmm?" Remus finally looked up before closing his book around his finger, "so what really happened in the forest? You've been acting strange..."

Gail had sworn not to tell any humans about what the centaurs had said. She wasn't sure that the werewolf would count, but she didn't want to keep such things from him. It took her a while to explain what the centaurs told her. A look of surprise was written across his face while she was speaking, but his look gradually became more knowing.

"Well?" Gail asked, leaning forward, not really knowing what to expect.

"It certainly explains why you're so wonderful," Remus smiled faintly, "I'm not sure they would lie to you."

"So you believe that I'm really a... a..." Gail stopped. She couldn't force herself to say it.

"I believe that only your own opinion is important," Remus moved forward to bump his forehead against hers, "if you chose to live your life, regardless of the information you've been given... they won't begrudge you. That's probably what your father, or Orpheus, wants."

Gail bit her lip nervously. She finally asked Remus the question she really wanted answered. Her stomach rolled because of her insecurities as she spoke, "you'll still like me, even if I'm not 'normal'?"

"Of course," Remus laughed, "I'm not exactly a human, either... Am I?"

Gail laughed shortly. Her heart leapt when she noticed how close she was to Remus. The world seemed to go quiet around them. Before she even had time to think about it, her mouth was covered by Remus'. His kiss was gentle and firm at the same time. It was what Gail would have considered the perfect kiss. The teenager's warmth seemed to wrap around her in the moment that their lips touched. An intense heat lit up in Gail, causing her cheeks to become very hot.

Remus broke the kiss off a second later, leaving Gail rather stunned and surprised. Of course, the second had felt like an hour to Gail, but it really wasn't.

"Sorry," Remus blurted, he hesitantly stared at Gail, "I really should have asked you first. I-"

"Don't apologize," Gail cut him off, "it was lovely. Thank you."

As red as Gail's face likely was at that moment, she was sure that Remus had outdone her. He looked quite nervous and had scooted a few feet away from her. His reaction was startlingly adorable and very different from Sirius' reaction. Remus refused to make eye contact with her for a few minutes, shaking his head.

"Remus," Gail finally said teasingly, "you wimp. I want another kiss. Come here."

That ignited his fire. He looked over at her and sighed, "I suppose I've got no choice in the matter... It's not like I've got the will to beat you off with a stick."

"_MOOOOONY_!" A cry sounded from a ways off before Gail could claim another few kisses from Remus. Looking over in the direction of the voice, she noted Jo and Sirius running over to them followed by James and Peter.

"What is it?" Remus asked. Gail noted the hint of worry in his eyes.

"Come play quidditch with us!" James panted as he got up to the tree, "the pitch is free today."

"You come play too, Gail," Jo said prodding Sirius' side, "so the teams are fair."

"Wormtail, Jo and Padfoot," James said, "versus THE ONE AND ONLY POTTER, Moony and Gail."

"Alright," Gail agreed, brushing some pieces of grass off herself as she stood up. She quickly offered a hand to Remus and helped him stand up, "those teams sound fair."

Needless to say, Gail had become quite good at flying a broom with no hands. She also had practice catching infant hippogriffs that were too tired to keep flying. She wasn't as good as James at being a chaser, but she had improved. She had even been able to steal the quaffle in the middle of a pass from Jo to Sirius.

"When did you improve so much?" James laughed after they'd finished near supper time, "last time we played, you were dismal."

"I had to teach a bunch baby hippogriffs how to fly," Gail explained cheerfully, "I'm still not good enough for the team, though."

"Maybe next year!" Jo smiled fondly at Sirius, "there will be a new captain next year. My money is on Potter."

"You don't need to inflate his ego, Jo," Gail scolded cheerfully. It was strange how a quick game and a kiss from Remus had revitalized her, "he's doing his best to make himself one of us normal peasants for Lily."

James just scratched the back of his head, "yeah, I've been doing my best. Has it been working?"

The group laughed. The first one to respond was Jo, "I think she suspects something, mate. Keep trying, though, it makes you more attractive to the female persuasion."

Everything in the world seemed right. They had no way of knowing just how black the future would be...

* * *

**Author Note:**

Yes! So, I expect some of you to have questions or be confused out of your minds. I hope at least one of you will go "AH HA! EUREKA!"...

Maybe?

If not, then be happy. Remus finally kissed Gail.

Once I'm finished this, I might just have to write a companion story about Jo. Everyone seems to like her to some degree... I enjoy writing her in, too. She's Miss Sunshine.

-Rue

* * *

**The Comment Gallery**_  
Host: Gail Forester  
Guest: Lily Evans_

Gail: Welcome to the Comment Gallery! Wiwy is here today. Hiya Lily!

Lily: Hello Gail. Thanks for having me.

Gail: First off, thank you for reviewing, everyone. _Apocolips_, _Musik Drache, Angel of Apathy_ and _Taken For Granted_. Thank you, thank you.

Lily: I get to read the first review... _MaxRideRox_, come here for a second.

-Lily smacks Max over the back of the head, long distance-

Lily: I don't like Potter at all. He's been a thorn in my side since our first year. I don't like him at all. If I did like him, do you think I would get into arguments? You don't see me arguing with people I **do** like.

Gail: She really does like him.

-Lily atomic pinches Gail-

Lily: Do. Not. Like.

Gail: As you can see, she's too stubborn to admit anything.

-Lily does her best death-glare-

Gail: Er... Sorry Max. Next review is _Sunni_.

Lily: You are mistaken. Potter is not loveable OR taken. Ew.

Gail: Yeah, Jo's full name is Joan, but it really doesn't suit her... That's why everyone calls her Jo.

Lily: Just like everyone calls you Gail.

Gail: Yep.

Lily: Oh, another new reviewer! Thanks for reviewing, _Kairi0403_.

Gail: Hopefully there was enough Remus fluff in this chapter. He's so adorable!!

-Lily snorts-

Lily: I don't know what you see in him. You could easily date someone handsome from one of the other houses, that has NO connection to Potter.

Gail: I like him. He's sweet and soft... and warm...

Lily: Okay, okay, I think we get it. Well... He is better than Black, but I'll be keeping my _EYES_ on him.

Gail: Ninja-Wiwy, attack!

-Lily sighs-

Gail: That's it for today. I got side tracked... sorry that this Commentary is short. Rue wanted to post this chapter quickly. See you next chapter!


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35**

It was a gloomy, overcast morning when two owls landed in front of Gail. She was only half awake, so it took her a while to realize that the owls were holding letters for her. Groggily, Gail removed the letters from the owls' legs and set them beside her plate. Both owls took off without waiting for a response. Gail continued to munch on a piece of toast. It was far too early for her brain to start working.

"Morning Gail," Remus greeted her, sliding onto the bench. He delivered a quick kiss onto her cheek, which she accepted without a complaint.

"Oye Gail," James greeted her, too, sitting on Remus' other side. Half of his hair was flat and the other half was a complete mess. He looked tired, but was nowhere near as bad as Sirius, who merely grunted his greeting as he threw himself onto the bench.

After she had finished her toast, Gail opened her first letter. It was from Fabian Prewett. Gail's stomach dropped as she read the letter. It was printed on black parchment paper. It looked like Dumbledore had refused to allow Mrs. Prewett into the Order. He hadn't given any excuse, but there had been dire consequences as a result. Mrs. Prewett stopped eating because of depression. Gail had to read and reread the letter a few times to understand the depth of what had happened.

Gail quickly ripped open the other letter, and started reading it. It didn't escape her notice that there were several tear stains on the second letter.

_Dear Gail,_

_I feel that it's my job to inform you that my mother passed away two days ago. We will be holding her funeral later today. I believe that she would have wanted you to attend, but Albus Dumbledore has argued against allowing you to leave Hogwarts for your own safety. I am sorry that you will not be able to attend, but I know your wishes will be with the family during this hard time._

_Take care of yourself,  
Molly Weasley  
_

It hit Gail like a brick. She felt like vomiting as the letter dropped from her fingers. She couldn't believe what she'd read, no matter how many times her eyes roamed over it.

"Gail?" Remus asked her, noticing how stiff she'd become after reading the letter, "what's wrong?"

Remus snatched up the letter and read it quickly before turning to Gail. He allowed James to grab the letter. Gail faintly noticed a pair of warm arms wrapping around her. It was no comfort to her, though. She just couldn't understand what would cause Mrs. Prewett to give up hope. The only thing that came to her mind was the headmaster. He had refused to allow her to help in the Order, for what reason? She had been slightly unstable, but she could would have been more than capable to help heal injuries or something.

Gail didn't know when she started crying, but she was glad to be able to burrow her face into Remus' arms.

"I don't believe this," James said quietly, his voice filled with pain. Gail assumed he had read her letters. Before anyone could respond to him, he was up and leaving the Great Hall. Sirius was still looking too tired to even think about following him.

"He's probably going to send a letter to his parents," Remus said quietly. In the time that Gail spent curled up in his arms, Lily finally appeared with Jo by her side.

"Gail? What's wrong?" Lily sat herself down next to the dusky haired girl. Jo claimed James' spot in between Remus and Sirius.

"Mmrmph," Gail groaned blearily peering at Lily above Remus' arms.

"She just received some horrible news," the werewolf explained to Lily, "Mrs. Tera Prewett just passed away..."

"Was it the Death Eaters again?" Lily whispered back. Gail noted the sympathy in her emerald eyes. She truly was a warm person.

"No," Gail said with a small hiccup, "she was depressed after her husband's death. She stopped eating... Dumbledore wouldn't let her help the Order."

Lily looked a little startled and Remus tightened his arms around Gail. She couldn't see Remus' face, but she knew it must have been strained.

"You can't mean to blame him," Remus said hoarsely, "he had his reasons..."

Gail felt something in her snap at that moment. Was she angry? If she was, then why? Was it because Remus was defending the man that had pushed Mrs. Prewett into a corner? She had been pushed to the point that her depression couldn't become any worse. Gail felt herself removing Remus' arms from her person.

"I'm not sure..." She said quietly, turning around to face Remus, "he certainly didn't help her any."

Remus glared at her before standing up, "I owe a lot to the headmaster. I don't expect you to understand that, but I'm not going to sit here and listen to you slander him."

Gail didn't even have the chance to respond; her boyfriend left the Great Hall as fast as he could. His behaviour left Gail to wonder if she had been wrong to feel angry at Dumbledore. The more that she felt like forgiving the old headmaster, the more anger swelled up in her. It got to the point that her hands started shaking uncontrollably.

"Gail?" Lily finally asked, "I'm sorry..."

"It's not your fault," Gail responded tartly. She clamped her tongue in between her teeth to keep from saying anything derogatory about Dumbledore.

"Are you mad at Remus?" Lily asked quietly, her eyes wide with surprise.

Gail shook her head, "it's my fault. I know I shouldn't say anything when I don't know the whole story... I always jump to conclusions and end up thinking the worst of people. I should probably go find him and apologize."

"Alright," Lily nodded slowly, "look, Gail... I know you're struggling with Mrs. Prewett's death, but you should know that she's probably in peace now... With her husband."

Gail nodded and was about so say something when her attention shifted to Melanie.

"That's when I told him that he didn't need to buy me flowers," Melanie was saying rather loudly to someone else, breaking the moment between Gail and Lily. When Gail glanced over, she noted that the blonde was talking with someone she didn't know. Melanie was seated in a group of older Griffindors, looking like she was superior. Every once in a while, she would cast a glance over to Sirius and Jo.

Gail faintly remembered the one of the older Griffindor's names. It was Bertha Jorkins. The one person that could rival Amber's sleuthing skills and Melanie's sheer thoughtlessness. She was one of the girls that had helped Amber spread nasty rumours about Gail in their fourth year. It really wasn't a surprise that she was good friends with Melanie, but Gail hadn't really noticed it before. It was a disturbing companionship.

"See you around," Gail said quickly to the redhead before marching out of the Great Hall. She wished she had the marauders' map. It would have made finding Remus a lot quicker. As it was, she would spend most of the day looking in the areas he liked to read in. Luck was on her side though. It looked like Remus had been stopped by none other than Severus Snape. A sneer was plastered on the bat-like teenager's face. He was obviously mocking Remus, who looked rather unhappy about being approached by the greasy boy.

Gail didn't know what to do. Was it 'right' to run in with her wand flaring? Perhaps they were having an important discussion. Gail darted down the hall and hid behind one of the suits of armour. She could just make out what Snape was saying.

"I don't know why Dumbledore would ever allow such a dangerous halfbreed into the school," Snape hissed, looking down his nose at Remus, even though the werewolf was somewhat taller than him.

That obviously struck a chord in Remus, though he didn't protest. If anything, Remus looked ashamed of himself, as if he had any control over the fact that he was a werewolf.

"Your friends aren't here to look after you today," Snape continued. Gail faintly wondered what his problem was. She had heard that he had almost been attacked by Moony, but that was entirely his own fault. He had no reason to pick on Remus.

Gail stepped out from behind the suit of armour with her wand pointed at Snape. It was the perfect time to test out a non-verbal stunning spell. With a flick of her wand, a red stinger hit Snape in the back. There wasn't much force behind the spell, but he crumpled and hit the ground.

"What have you done?" Remus looked aghast at Gail, "you-"

"Stopped him from making a git out of himself?" Gail snapped, "Remus, you don't need to take his abuse. You've never done anything to hurt him or anyone else."

"That doesn't mean you can stun him whenever you like, Gail," Remus frowned at her.

"I'll stun whoever I want when I'm in a bad mood, thanks," Gail snapped, equally frustrated, "especially when it's a Slytherin that's been picking on the person I love the most."

Remus opened his mouth to argue, but the impact of Gail's words hit him, "you... love me?"

Gail nodded, fiercely staring at him as if daring him to doubt her words. There was a quiet moment between the two in which Remus seemed to be contemplating what he should say.

"Gail... Aren't you scared you're moving too fast?" Remus finally asked, stepping over Snape's fallen body.

"No," Gail promptly stated. Her tone was slightly spiteful, "I think I've always cared about you, but that's not the point, Remus. I came to apologize. I really didn't mean to insult Professor Dumbledore. He's a great man, I just... Don't know what to think about Mrs. Prewett's... death."

Remus pulled Gail into his arms quite quickly. It wasn't his normal, soft hug. The hug was tight and somewhat constricting, as if Remus had decided not to be hesitant anymore. She really didn't know what to think of it. He didn't say another word, but Gail knew he'd forgiven her.

"Ah, we'd better go before Snape comes to," Remus said quietly, pulling away from the hug. He looked quite embarrassed and pleased at the same time. Gail nodded firmly in agreement. She didn't want a detention for using spells between classes.

* * *

Later that night, there was a shouting matching in the sixth year girl's dormitories. For once, it didn't have anything to do with Gail. Of course, her name came up quite a bit in the argument, but only in reference to when she was dating Sirius.

"I can't believe you'd do something like this," Jo yelled. It was the first time Gail had ever heard the brunette yell at someone. Unlike Lily, Jo's face didn't become red. She was glaring daggers at Melanie. Jo had every reason to be steamed at the blonde. A rumour had begun to circulate that she had blackmailed Sirius into dating her.

Melanie's temper was a lot cooler. She didn't raise her voice, but she returned Jo's glare, "you should have known that I used to like him. It was cruel of you to just decide to ask him out. You got what you deserved."

Jo looked like she'd been slapped, "I've liked him just as long as you, perhaps longer. The only difference was that I didn't hang on him for a snog session immediately after he broke up with Gail."

Melanie's blue eyes shifted from Jo to Gail for a second. A momentary smirk formed on her lips before she turned her eyes back to Jo. Over the summer, Melanie had become more full of herself, it was like she had absorbed a part of James' ego. There wasn't a thing that the other girls could say to her.

"You were snogging that Mulciber," Jo said savagely, "the same person that not only hexed Mary Macdonald last week, but also Gail. You _WONDER_ why Sirius refuses to snog you now. You say you don't like him anymore, but that's just an excuse, isn't it?"

Melanie's eyes narrowed dangerously. Gail noted that the blonde's hand slid into her pocket, "that's a lie. He said that he hasn't ever raised a wand against anyone; all of those rumours are just Griffindor propaganda against him."

Gail could have laughed at how easily Melanie had been taken in by the biggest Slytherin oaf. It was obvious to see that the blonde was taken with the "powerful" individuals at Hogwarts. She wad gullible to the extreme and too stupid to realize when she was being lied to. Perhaps she thought that snogging someone like Mulciber would make Sirius jealous...

"Anyway, Sirius Black doesn't matter anymore," Melanie stated cooly, "because I'll be going steady with Mulciber by Christmas."

"And you just wanted to make me feel horrible about myself while you could?" Jo shrieked, pulling her wand quickly out of her pocket and pointing it at the slightly freaked out blonde, "I'll have you know... Sirius is a thousand times better than any Slytherin."

"_Expelliarmus_," a red beam knocked Jo's wand out of her hands. Entering the dormitory were Avalon, Amber and Lily. Apparently, Avalon had allowed them to use the girl's prefect bathroom again.

"What's going on here?" Lily snapped, glaring back and forth between Jo and Melanie. When neither girl saw fit to respond, the redhead turned her attention to Gail.

"They're having a row," Gail responded, "because Melanie started a rumour about Jo, and Jo said something about Melanie's great big oaf, Mulciber."

Avalon clucked her tongue, "I'll have to put you three in detention."

"Three?" Lily stared at Avalon as if the Prefect had grown a third head, "Gail didn't do anything."

"That's exactly it," Avalon said regally, "a model student would at least attempt to stop their fight. Gail, you'll serve your detention with Slughorn, he needs some help preparing ingredients for the first year's potions. Jo and Melanie will serve with McGonagall, probably writing lines."

Both Jo and Gail groaned at Avalon taking her friend's side of the argument. For whatever reason, Gail's punishment was far worse, to her, than writing lines. She would have to spend time ALONE with the creepy potions master. At that moment, Gail wished she could put a memory charm on Avalon to make the prefect forget assigning a detention.

"Don't try it," Lily warned her quietly after Jo, Avalon and Melanie had retreated to their beds, "the prefect badge automatically sends a record to the professors about any detention that a Prefect assigns. It's the same as the house point system. Honestly, you should read _Hogwarts: A History_."

"Don't worry about it, Gail. Those two have changed so much over the last two years. Honestly, I relate more with you than with them half the time," Amber smiled cheerfully, "I know! Just ask Remus to get into a detention with you, and then you can spend that time together."

"I'd rather not," Gail smiled weakly at her friends, "Remus is a Prefect. I don't want him to do anything for me that would make him feel guilty."

"Such a sweet girlfriend," Lily chided, playfully messing up Gail's hair.

* * *

Gail had her detention with Slughorn the next week. It was as awful as she had imagined. She was forced to prepare several different potions. Luckily, they were all fairly basic, because they were to be used by the first years so see the proper results.

"Miss Forester, I was extremely upset when you failed your Potions OWL," Slughorn said for the fifth time. He had been attempting to guilt her into joining the Slug Club for nearly two hours.

Gail just frowned and continued to cut some silverweed into small pieces. She reserved her ability to talk because she did not want to say the rude thought that had taken over her mind and risk offending the pushy professor. She was quite happy to just sit in silence and cut up, squish, smack and stew the different ingredients.

"Of course, I had no idea that you were such a genius potion brewer," Slughorn continued, "to be able to create a totally unique potion during an exams..."

Gail rolled her eyes at this and bit her tongue. She would not comment on her large mistake that had resulted in the creation of the flight potion. Slughorn's stomach bounced up and down as the big man laughed.

"My dear, you really _are_ shy, aren't you? That's quite strange for a Griffindor, isn't it?" The potion master smiled at her, "you really should join the Slug Club. You would be able to get over your nerves easily and you would be able to meet many different people that could... Goodness, what's that?"

Turning her tawny head, Gail noted something strange entering the room. It looked like a floating pumpkin. It was probably just Peeves pulling a mean trick on ol' Sluggy.

"Stop right there, you!" Slughorn demanded, "whoever is doing that, stop it! Right. Now."

Slughorn was quite freaked out by now, as the pumpkin continued to float over towards him. It eventually stopped in mid air and slowly spun around to reveal a carved face. It was almost a portrait of the plump walrus man. Slughorn retreated a few steps backwards, his eyes bulging slightly.

"You can go now," Slughorn said nervously, "you've done more than enough. If you need me I'll be in my office."

With that, Slughorn sprinted off as best as he could. When he was out of earshot, Gail couldn't help but laugh. The sight of the man waddling was quite hilarious. Slowly, Gail turned to the pumpkin with a smile on her face.

"Hello," Gail said quite calmly. She expected it was one of the marauders who had decided to drop in to save her from hours of boredom.

The pumpkin dropped slightly and the hood of the cloak was yanked off to reveal a very embarrassed Remus Lupin. He was frowning at Gail, half amused and half sympathetic. Gail wondered how much he had heard of Slughorn's recruitment attempts.

"That man..." Remus half growled, "leaving you here when you could have been in danger."

"That's why he's Slytherin's head of house," Gail commented airily, "borrowed James' cloak?"

Remus nodded slowly, placing the pumpkin on top of one of the desks. He carefully pulled the cloak off and tucked it into his bag before snatching Gail's hand. He pulled her out of the class and down the hall. They eventually stopped, and Remus swung around to stare at Gail.

"I never got a chance to reply to you," Remus said quietly, "we're still young, but I want you to know that I've never liked anyone more than you."

Gail felt her cheeks pinching painfully from the giant smile that took over her face, "that's what love is, isn't it?"

"I'm not sure I know," Remus laughed slightly, "you probably know better than me. What do you think love is?"

Gail had to think for a moment before she responded, "at this point in my life? It's wanting someone to be happy. I guess that means I love Lily and Amber, too. "

"Less than me though, right?" Remus leaned over and brushed a quick kiss against Gail's cheekbone.

"Mmm," Gail responded, turning her head up so that she could catch Remus' lips.

* * *

**Author Note:**

This chapter feels a little short to me. I don't know why... It took me forever to get the chapter to flow the way I wanted it to. Originally, I had Jo hex Melanie with all of the others watching... And they just used her as a coat hanger for a few hours.

There needs to be some more Slughorn in HERE.

Also, I think defining love for a 16 year old is important. It changes over time. So I HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU: **What is love, in your opinion? **I don't want generic answers, I want what you honestly think. Personally, I think it's different between people.

-Rue

* * *

**The Comment Gallery**_  
Host: Gail Forester  
Guests: Narcissa Black, Severus Snape_

Gail: Welcome to the Comment Gallery. It looks like Narcissa and Snape are here. Power to Slytherin. We're celebrating the "not so evil" Slytherins today. Welcome.

Narcissa: How charming.

Snape: ...

Gail: So I have a question for Narcissa. Tell us a little bit about yourself? How do you feel about being portrayed as being equally evil as Bellatrix.

Narcissa: Unfortunately, it's completely untrue. I am not like either of my sisters; I enjoy living in the pureblood fashion, but I refuse to actively seek out and harm others. Family is important to me.

Gail: I see. I'm glad you're not like your sister. I think it's admirable that you think family is important. It's something that doesn't get a lot of face time in fanfictions, you know? Purebloods _value_ family, and it's something that they take pride in. Even if it sometimes becomes extreme.

Narcissa: I'm not an extremist.

-Cissy stares at Snape-

Snape: Can we get a move on?

Gail: Alright, first review is from _MaxRideRox_.

Snape: That's disgusting.

Narcissa: I must agree. I knew that boy when he was a toddler... I wasn't much older, but I faintly remember him sticking gum in Bella's hair.

-Gail looks amused-

Narcissa: And then he had the guts to cry to his parents that she stole his gum.

Gail: He was a clever brat, even back then.

Snape: Read the next review already...

Gail: _Apocolips_! I'll be sad too! I don't think Rue will have enough time to write a chapter a day anymore... But I think she said something about updating every Monday/Friday.

Narcissa: I should appear more often in the story. I'm G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S.

-Gail rolls her eyes-

Gail: Okay, _Musik Drache_. I'll do my best to explain it. I'm the transfigured body of Orpheus' golden lyre. Supposedly, it's the reason why I'm good with animals.

Snape: Might be the reason why Lupin likes you.

Gail: Don't say that! He... loves me. Right Cissy?

Narcissa: Men like women with breasts. You don't have any. It must be your powers.

-Gail looks shocked-

Gail: W-well... Fine then.

Snape: You haven't explained how Orpheus' powers work or why you thought you were living with him.

Gail: That hasn't been divulged yet. Bite me.

Narcissa: Ooookay then. Next review.

Gail: The next review is from _Curious_. Thank you for reviewing. I've heard that there will be much Lily/James stuff. I would like to know how it turned out to be funny, though... I don't think it was written to be funny.

Snape: He doesn't have a chance with her. That's funny.

Gail: Urrr... Sure. The next review is from _Angel of Apathy_. Thank goodness! YOU GET IT!

-Gail cries tears of joy-

Snape: Disgusting.

Narcissa: Quite.

Gail: Our last review is from _Lift the Wings_. Thanks for the review. There were quite a few hints given, towards what I am. Should I list them?

Snape: Just do it.

Gail: My middle name, my cat's name, my patronus, the bracelet, my power over animals, lack of past... I could go on.

Snape: What was Mati short for, anyway?

Gail: Grammaticus; the pupil or son of Orpheus. Also called Musaeus.

Narcissa: Neat... Well, I have other things to do, so wrap it up.

Gail: That's it for today! If you still have questions, send them in a review. See you next chapter!


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36**

Snow fell on Hogwarts in thick blankets early that year, making movement between difficult for those that had to be outdoors for any length. It was extremely rough on the younger students who would trudge through waist height snow to get to Herbology. There was always a constant fear for those outside, as well, since the marauders had been known to enchants several thousands of snowballs to spring up and attack anyone that came too close, rather like a bludger.

Things had not gotten better between the sixth year girls. Jo had convinced Amber and Lily that she was right in the argument, while Avalon had stuck with her best friend, Melanie. Things were progressively getting worse. Every time Melanie started a new rumour about Jo, she would wake up with a strange charm, hex or jinx placed on her. These charms spanned from colour change charms to jelly legs. Things got so bad that even the boys noticed. Luckily for Gail, she caught the conversation between Jo and Sirius.

"What's going on?" Sirius asked the brunette quietly one morning after seeing Melanie enter the Great Hall with her hair in a rather unique mess. It looked like a family of birds had been charmed to make a nest in her hair. Lily looked rather pleased at her work. On closer look, her hair had been half-transfigured into both the birds and the nest.

"Oh, nothing," Jo responded casually. Gail pretended that spreading jam on her toast was far more important than eavesdropping. She was really curious to see how Sirius would take the news, so she was watching them out of the corner of her eye.

"That," Sirius gestured at Melanie's head, "is not 'nothing'. What's going on?"

"She decided to spread rumors about me," Jo snapped finally, glowering at Sirius.

Sirius clucked his tongue, but Gail didn't hear his response. Apparently, Lily had been trying to get her attention for a while.

"GAIL." Lily snapped at her.

"Sorry, Lily," Gail went pink, "what do you need?"

"Your toast isn't that interesting, is it?" Lily looked quite peeved, but after she settled down, she looked over her shoulder for a moment, "did you hear the new rumour the little rat started?"

"She's not a rat, Lily," Gail answered truthfully around a mouth of toast, "and no, I haven't."

Lily rolled her eyes slightly. Why didn't she understand that Gail didn't hop on the gossip train.

"It's really horrible-"

"Oye Evans," James greeted her, successfully stopping her rant. He didn't even notice Gail looking up at him thankfully. Peter snickered gleefully behind him, though no one seemed to notice.

"What?" Lily snapped, throwing a dark stare at James.

"I just wanted to compliment you birdhair charm," James pause for a moment. Gail could tell that he was barely resisting messing his own hair up. There was a nervous look on his face, "it's- uh- neat. Well done."

Lily looked quite furious. She stood up and pulled herself up to full height, "of all the things to compliment, you pick a charm I put on someone else? Drop dead, Potter."

With that, she stormed out of the Great Hall. James just slumped dismally, and plopped himself in Lily's abandoned seat, "mornin' Gail."

"Nice one, James," Gail retorted cheekily, "but I think she was pretty proud of that charm herself... Strange reaction."

"That was supposed to be a conversation starter," James responded weekly, mopping over Lily's plate of food, "I couldn't very well walk up to her and start complimenting her hair and eyes, now could I?"

"That kind of thing only works for Snuffles," Gail said cheerfully, clapping James on the back, "it could have been worse. Cheer up."

"Worse? _WORSE_?" James looked at her with a baffled look on his face, "how could it have been worse?"

"How? Easy," Gail dropped the crust of her toast to the plate, "she could have charmed your hair to be identical to Melanie's. Or she could have hexed your ears off for suggesting that she would do a little trick on her fellow Griffindor... By the way, have you seen Remus this morning?"

"He's still in the Hospital Wing," James stated thoughtfully, giving her a knowing look, "he should be out by this afternoon."

"Rough night?" Gail smiled wryly. She hoped they had at least stayed away from the centaurs. Her stomach twitched involuntarily when she thought about the story she had been told.

"I don't need your help," Jo snapped rather loudly, "I can take care of myself, _Sirius_."

"It's not just your problem," Sirius argued back, grabbing Jo's arm, "I really like you, so if there's anything I can do to help you out, just tell me. Okay?"

"You like me?" Jo asked, her mouth hanging open slightly. Gail guessed that she was extremely pleased by this. The brunette wrapped her arms around Sirius' shoulders, "I like you, too, Sirius."

Gail got up to leave, throwing a sympathetic look at James and Peter. They had the burden of sticking with their mate, even when he was busy flirting. The fact that James didn't have anyone to flirt with didn't even phase Sirius, who had long since ignored everything regarding James and the redhead. Gail didn't know why, but she assumed it was because of annoyance. Sirius was likely annoyed that his best mate hasn't just given up on the one girl that rejected him. But what did Gail know? She'd only been "with" Sirius for a few weeks.

"Excuse me, Gail?" A soft voice floated after her as she exited the Great Hall. It was faintly familiar from somewhere, so Gail paused at the doors. As the teenager came running up to her, she faintly recognized him. He had clear blue eyes and soft brown hair. This wasn't what she recognized him by, though, she recognized his jovial, smiling face. Dirk Cresswell had grown since she had seen him last.

"Hello Dirk," Gail greeted him casually, aware that he was just as tall as her now, even though he was a year younger.

"Can I have a moment of your time?" Dirk asked pleasantly enough, though he seemed quite nervous.

"Sure," Gail responded amiably, a little puzzled as to why the younger student would call her out, "why don't we walk together?"

Dirk nodded, keeping up with Gail as they walked down the hall. He was startlingly quiet. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw beads of sweat forming on his nose. They weren't walking that fast, but she slowed her pace down a little bit.

"Have the Slytherins been bugging you again?" Gail asked, turning her head to survey him.

Dirk shook his head furiously, "no, they haven't... I- uh..."

They had to stop to wait for a staircase to shift back. The ruddy thing was lingering at the giraffe portrait again. Gail took the break as a good time to get Dirk to spit out whatever he was trying to say.

"What is it, Dirk?" Gail asked, "we're running out of hallway."

"Would you like to go-to-Hogsmeade-with-me this weekend?" Dirk finally said, looking at her hopefully.

"You need someone to go with?" Gail felt perplexed. She had only ever talked with him once. Didn't he have friends that he could go with?

"On a date," Dirk explained, almost completely pink in the face. When Gail didn't respond, he took it upon himself to do his best to convince her, "I've liked you ever since we met. I haven't been able to stop thinking about you."

Gail felt a wave of pity roll throughout her emotions. Had she lead the boy on? It wasn't like she had meant to. It was best to shoot him down before he got any grand ideas, "oh, I'm sorry Dirk. I'm seeing someone."

"Who?" Dirk prompted her. His blue eyes pierced her. He was practically daring her to make up a name.

"I'm dating Remus... Lupin," Gail said shortly, not knowing if she liked how pushy the younger student was.

"The bloke that's always sick?" Dirk looked quite surprised and started trembling slightly. He almost looked like he was about to start crying when he grabbed Gail's wrist. Pleadingly, he spoke, "aren't I better than him? He's a marauder- they treated you poorly. Anyway, I could take care of you better than him... Aren't I good enough?"

"I believe she's already given you an answer," Remus' voice drifted down the stairs. Turning her head, Gail watched as Remus made his way down the staircase. His eyes were fixed on Dirk, and he did not look happy.

Dirk dropped her wrist quickly, upon seeing the hard stare that he was receiving from one of the marauders. Without another word, the younger Griffindor darted back down the hall. Although it had just been a full moon a few days ago, Remus could still be plenty intimidating when he looked mad and boy, did he look mad. His pupils had dilated quite a bit and there was a hint of the remnants of the wolf in his frown.

"What's wrong, my _darling_?" Gail asked coyly, stretching her arms out in an attempt to hug him.

"Do you like him?" Remus asked shortly, staring down the hall at the younger student. He hesitated before speaking, "I wouldn't begrudge you. He's "normal," if you know what I mean."

"Nah," Gail laughed pushing against Remus' gently, "not nearly cute enough. Is anything else bugging you, _darling_?"

"I just realized we haven't even been on a date," Remus said quietly. There was still a hint of anger in his tone, along with bitterness. He was quite stiff, but he eventually relaxed in Gail's arms.

"You heard what Dirk said?" Gail asked, peaking up at Remus, "it's not true, you know. I don't need anyone to look after me. And you're not always sick. It's two days a month."

There was a rumble in Remus' chest. It was somewhere between a growl and a laugh, "let's go on a date tomorrow. Maybe a picnic?"

"In the snow?"

"Yes," Remus smiled gratingly, "I'll bring everything, so you just bring yourself. Okay?"

"Fine. It had better be romantic, though," Gail sniffed, "I'm expecting more from you than from Snuffles."

The only response Gail got was an uncharacteristic grin. He was definitely planning something.

Gail could hardly contain her excitement over the next day. She had taken to pacing around her bed in the dormitories. Her stomach was completely out of control, it was doing the tango in her gut without asking for anyone else's approval. The worst part of it was the fact that Gail had successfully annoyed Amber, Lily _and_ Jo. Friday afternoon couldn't come quickly enough. Amber had forced some smelly, pink stuff onto her lips. She had also fawned over Gail, fixing her hair up to look 'nice.' The blonde gave no explanation for her behaviour, just a wink.

All Gail could do was wait for Remus in the Griffindor common room with her guts twisted up. To her relief, Remus appeared through the portrait hole. He strode over to her. Gail totally couldn't read his expression; it was somewhere between amusement, nervousness and excitement. Bolting up from her seat, Gail nearly tripped on the edge of the rug. Luckily, she caught herself before she could make a face plant into the floor.

"Ready to go?" Remus asked, doing his best not to laugh.

"Yeah," Gail attempted to sound casual even though she was feeling very excited. Her heart jumped into her throat when Remus took her hand. They walked rather slowly together.

"You look nice today," he said quietly, his soft, brown eyes fixed in hers.

Gail snorted in response, "I always do... wait, Remus, are you trying to flirt with me?"

"So what if I am?" He laughed coarsely, "we're supposed to when we're on a date, my little nighting-Gail."

"That's a horrible pet name!" Gail cried, doing her best to look offended.

"Well, I can't really call you Lyre, that would just be odd. Lyra would be weird, too," Remus commented airily, "what would you suggest?"

"You know that whole thing makes me nervous," Gail frowned at him, "that I might be the Golden Lyre? It's nothing to joke about."

Remus just continued to smile pleasantly, as if he didn't care that discussing Gail's heritage bothered her, "I know... Vega."

"Vega?" Gail looked perplexed.

"The fourth brightest star in the sky," Remus explained quietly, pulling Gail's hand so that she was standing closer to him, "and the brightest star in Lyra..."

That made Gail brighten up a little bit. It was a bit of an honour to be nicknamed after one the the brightest stars. That meant that Remus thought she was significantly important. At that moment, she was sure her heart had sped up.

"Fine, but only when we're alone, _Darling. _I don't want anyone asking too many questions." Gail retorted, "wait... Fourth? Isn't that a huge coincidence? I'm your fourth friend to know about your furry little secret."

"I've set it up our picnic area over there, by the greenhouses," Remus gesturing outside where they would be heading, allowing her comment to pass by. The cold, winter wind whipped around the trees in the forest. Gail briefly thought herself nuts to be heading outside. It looked like they were due for another, small snowstorm. Before Gail could even protest about heading into the cold outdoors, Remus was happily pulling her along. The path towards the greenhouses was fairly well packed. They only ran into trouble once Remus decided to turn from the path.

Eventually, Remus stopped walking and turned to Gail, "here we are. Nice and private. Give me a second, I'll hide our footprints."

With a flick of his wand, the tracks they had just made disappeared. Remus then gestured for Gail to take a few steps over, which she did. To her amazement, warm air hit her face. Where there had been snow earlier, there was lush green grass. The grass only covered a small space and she could see the snow around the area, but it was more than enough for the checkered blanket that Remus had left. It was like they had entered a warm dome, it felt sunny, and it was too warm to wear their thick, winter robes.

"I put a charm up to give us some privacy," Remus stated behind her, "and I've got the map, so the others won't be able to interrupt our picnic."

"Oh, _Darling_!" Gail gasped finally loosening her tongue as she removed her boots and robes. Seeing that Remus had also done the same, Gail pulled him into a tight hug, "you did all of this for our date?"

Remus smiled softly down at her, "it was just a few spells. Good practice, really... I've always wanted to try them."

"It's wonderful," Gail laughed cheerfully before planting a kiss on Remus. She hadn't been this carefree in a while. With everything happening recently, she had been forced to use her tense smile too many times. It was nice to relax and act normally.

Gail and Remus stood together for a while, not saying a word. Every once in a while, they would share a kiss, but for the most part, they stood and enjoyed one another's companionship. That was, until their stomachs interrupted.

"We have to learn how to control those," Gail joked, "that's the second time."

"How about we have something to eat, first?" Remus took Gail's hand and lead her a few steps towards the blanket. They sat down next to each other with a large picnic basket sitting in the middle of the blanket.

"What kind of food did you bring?" Gail asked warily, wondering if Remus had brought anything but sweets.

"Two butterbeers," Remus dug his arm in the basket and pulled them out, "Flink really packed it well... Let's see, there are some cookies, sandwiches, a bowl of fruit, some fried chicken, potato salad... How much did she pack... There are some cucumber and a few other vegetables. Ah, and a good slab of chocolate cake."

"You don't seem pleased about those vegetables, _darling_," Gail laughed cheerfully, picking up a piece of cucumber and biting into it.

Remus wrinkled his nose, snatching one of the chocolate chip cookies, "I much prefer sweets. Oh, dark chocolate chips."

"Share," Gail tugged on the sleeve of his uniform, opening her mouth like a baby bird. Remus seemed to debate sharing his treasure for a moment, but broke off a piece of his cookie and placed it into her mouth.

Chewing happily, Gail nodded, "danks."

Within minutes, all that was left were the vegetables and the large piece of chocolate cake. Remus had been looking forward to the cake ever since pulling it out of the basket. Gail could tell by the gleam in his eyes. This was a side of him that she hadn't seen before. He was almost... stalking the cake.

"Ah, you look full," Gail said calmly, lifting the plate with the chocolate cake onto her lap, "I guess I'll have to eat this who piece myself."

With that, Gail dug her fork into the dark chocolate icing. She scooped the icing into her mouth quickly. The stunned look on Remus' face was quite hilarious, she could see why he enjoyed teasing her so much. It was fun.

"I'm not completely full," Remus finally protested after Gail had stolen much of the icing. He had scooted forward quite far, "share?"

Gail smiled sweetly, using her fork to life a good piece of the cake up. Her hand slowly drifted over to Remus, who was waiting patiently for her. A second before he could bite the cake off of the fork, Gail's hand zoomed back over to her own face. The cake disappeared into her mouth.

"Mmm," Gail made the cake sound like it was the best thing she'd ever tasted before swallowing, "mmm! Good cake!"

"Cruel!" Remus protested, pouting slightly.

"Oh fine," Gail laughed heartily, scooping another mouthful for Remus. For a moment, Gail thought he might take the end of the fork with the cake.

"It is good cake," Remus laughed, leaning in to brush a kiss to Gail's cheek, "thanks."

"I might share more with you if I get a few kisses for it," Gail joked, taking a bit of the cake. She decided she preferred the icing, which she had already eaten, so she allowed the Remus to _wolf_ down the rest of the cake.

After they had cleaned up the remnants of their picnic, Remus looked over at Gail with a stern look, "now we're going steady, since we've shared a piece of cake."

"Really?" Gail snorted, "I figured we were going steady after I shared my cookies with you on the train that one time..."

Remus looked horrified, "you were still dating Padfoot back then!"

"Mmm," Gail smiled cheekily, "can't I have two?"

"No. Definitely not. I'm not sharing with him," Remus frowned down at her. He shifted so that he could wrap his arms around her.

* * *

**Author Note:**

Their first real date!

For those of you still confused about chapter 34... I suggest Wikipedia; Orpheus, Lyra, Vega. If you scan those three, you will be able to understand the connection Remus makes.

What else... MY CAKE! I NOT SHARE! Bwahahaha!

-Rue

* * *

**The Comment Gallery**_  
Host: Peter Pettigrew  
Guest: Melanie Range_

Peter: H-hello. Welcome to the Comment Gallery. Gail is away on business, I think she has a detention for hexing Snape or something. So, uhm... I'm going to be interviewing Melanie Range.

Melanie: Oh, Peter! You're doing wonderfully.

Peter: T-thanks. What are we supposed to do first.

Melanie: Dunno. Why don't we read some of these reviews?

Peter: Oh, here. It's from _Musik Drache_. Remus scolds people a lot, doesn't he?

Melanie: I quite like him. He's too good for Gail.

Peter: Ah, Gail is p-pretty th-though. Just l-l-like you.

Melanie: Aww, thanks bud.

Peter: Since when did you have a southern drawl?

Melanie: Since the author based me on her cousin, who lives in Texas... But the majority of her problems don't come from that. Her parents spoiled her.

Peter: Oh, I see.

Melanie: Read the next one.

Peter: Oh right, right. It's from _Lift the Wings_. Thanks, we try.

Melanie: Copyrighted! No, I'm sure we've stolen this from someone... maybe _Indi_. Woops.

Peter: The next review is from _Persistent_. PETER IS RIGHT HERE! I've always been here. Don't question it!

Melanie: Sure. I know I saw you talking with the Slytherins that time... when I was snogging Mulciber.

Peter: N-n-n-n-no, that wasn't me. Really. Must have been someone else.

Melanie: Sure... Whatever. Like I care.

Peter: The next review is from _Apocolips_.

Melanie: Yay, they're together.

-She's totally unenthusiastic-

Peter: They're strange, aren't they?

Melanie: Yep.

Peter: The last review is from _MaxRideRox_. Narcissa is HOT.

Melanie: She's one of the prettier girls that have ever come out of Slytherin.

Peter: That's true... Remember Tabitha Goyle? UG-LEY

Melanie: She married a troll, right?

Peter: Well, that's all I've got. I have an- er- appointment with someone. I've gotta go.

-Peter runs out-

Melanie: So, like... How were we supposed to close this section? "See you next chapter"? That's ridiculous. I'll do it my own way.

-Melanie waves-

Melanie: Ta, loves.


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37**

"Trust me, Gail!" James attempted to be convincing around a mouthful of turkey. He effectively spewed small bits of food onto Gail's arm. He was lucky that her temper took a lot to ignite.

James continued after watching Gail wipe the food off of her arm with a napkin, "my parents want you to come over for Christmas break. Mum doesn't want you to be alone during the holidays."

"That's nice and everything, but I don't want to intrude on your parents. They're already putting up with Sirius," Gail shook her head.

"Oh come on," James batted his hazel eyes, "not just Padfoot, but Moony and Wormy are also planning on visiting too."

"Then they won't need a fourth visitor," Gail said slowly.

"You should take up their offer," Remus stated convincingly. He was sitting next to James and giving Gail a knowing look, "that way, we'll be able to see each other on Christmas."

"Mmm," Gail thought about it for a moment, "I guess. You're sure it's okay, James? I don't want to be a burden on your parents."

"Naw," James said, chewing on a new piece of food, "Mum likes you. You can stay in the spare room. I'm sure Sirius won't mind sharing my room."

Lily, who had been quiet throughout the entire conversation, was glowering across the table at James and Gail. She finally opened her mouth to speak, "Gail, are you really going to spend your holidays with _them_?"

"Looks like it," Gail confessed, tossing a dreamy smile to Remus, which was returned to her. For what seemed like once in months, Peter had decided to join his friends for a meal, not that Gail paid any attention to him.

"Good luck," Lily snapped, pouting a little bit, "send me a letter if you need anything."

"What about me?" James asked, causing Lily to appear slightly confused.

"What?" Lily asked incredulously.

"What if I need you? Can I send you a letter?" James asked, using his best sweet smile to Lily.

Momentarily, the redhead looked like she was going to regurgitate her breakfast. She gave no response to James. Instead, she turned away to start a conversation with Amber. Obviously, Lily didn't seen the downcast look on James' face. It was sweet how nice he was being around her.

"I'm sure Lily would like a nice letter for Christmas," Gail said, rubbing James' arm comfortingly. She snickered, "a normal letter. One that's poetic and sweet."

James seemed to cheer up significantly. Gail ignored the death glares that she was receiving from the redhead. Instead, she turned her attention to Remus, doing her best to ignore the "sweet" exchange between Sirius and Jo. They seemed to be getting along quite well recently. Jo was a good mix of exciting and understanding; she effectively balanced out Sirius' cool, somewhat overbearing personality.

"I'll see you in a bit," Gail offered Remus a small wave, "I have a few questions for Professor Sid."

"Sid?" James mouthed the name slowly.

"Our Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor," Gail explained, "you would know his name if you paid any attention in class."

"Don't need to," James quickly ran a hand through his hair. Gail didn't miss his quick glance towards Lily, who was ignoring him, "I've already learned everything."

Gail snorted, taking a swipe at him as she left. It was true that she wanted to ask the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor about shield charms. She had been largely unsuccessful in performing them in class. Even after they'd been covered in Charms, too, she was still unable to perform them. Hopefully, Professor Sid would be able give her a few pointers.

* * *

It felt strange to say her good byes on the platform and not bid the two sneaky marauders adieu. She heard a few fox whistles when she gave Remus a departing kiss. She was half expecting James to admit that it was all a joke and that his parents really didn't want her over for Christmas. That joke never came, though. Mr and Mrs. Potter greeted their son and Sirius warmly. Mrs. Potter covered both boys in a slew of kisses and tight hugs. Mr. Potter was more withdrawn, offering a handshake to Sirius and a short hug for his son. By the time they turned to greet her, Gail was feeling like a fifth wheel.

"Oh Gail!" Mrs. Potter looked absolutely teary, "how horrible this year must have been for you."

The woman pulled Gail into a hug. For a moment, Gail felt her eyes watering uncontrollably. It was so similar to the hugs that Mrs. Prewett had given her time and again. For a moment, she forgot who had their arms around her. Of course, there was no mistaking Mrs. Potter's silver speckled, brown hair for Mrs. Prewett. The two women were roughly the same height and they were both motherly. It took Mrs. Potter a few minutes to pull herself back together and out of the hug.

"And to think that they were both with us just last year," Mrs. Potter sniffed, pulling out a tissue to wipe her eyes. She seemed to notice Gail's teary eyes too. She offered the tawny haired girl a tissue, which Gail took and blew her nose.

"We're happy that you could celebrate with us," Mr. Potter said quite clearly, though he looked equally sad as his wife, "in times like these, it's best to celebrate together while we still can."

Before Gail could open her mouth to say anything, Sirius decided he would override the conversation, "Mummy, I missed you!"

With that, Sirius wrapped his arms around Mrs. Potter. Laughing ruefully, Mrs. Potter swatted him away, "that's enough. I guess we should get going. We'll be using the floo network today."

The Potters' house was exactly as Gail remembered it from the previous year. The timeless antiques were decorated in paper snowflakes and different coloured cloth snowmen. Gail had to bite her lip to prevent her reoccurring sadness.

"James, could you show Gail to the spare room?" Mrs. Potter said after the three men stepped out of the fireplace, "make sure Sirius' mess has been cleaned up."

"Alright, c'mon Gail..." James carried Gail's trunk up the stairs and lead her into the bedroom. Surprisingly, Sirius hadn't left the room in such a mess. Of course, he'd put up a few posters of girls in bikinis, but those could be taken down or covered up. There was a faint odour in the room; Gail didn't want to know what it was from. There were some dirty clothes that had been left on the floor that Sirius hadn't bothered to take with him to Hogwarts.

"Make yourself comfortable," James said casually, placing the trunk in the corner of the room, "I'm gonna go make sure that my mum didn't clean my room."

After he left the room, Gail set Fright's cage down on the floor beside the bed and then flung open her trunk and pulled out some of her books and things, which she left on the counter of the vanity. Her next mission was to get the posters down. With a flick of her wand, she summoned the posters easily and stored them in the dresser drawer. Sirius' dirty clothes were also scooped into a neat pile and shoved into the closet.

Near the bottom of her trunk, the bag of owl treats had spilled open. Grabbing one, Gail gave Fright a treat for being good in transit. Before she could do anything else, there was a rap on the door.

"Come in," Gail called calmly, as she quickly closed the lid of her trunk.

Sirius slunk into the room, took one look at the barren walls and turned to glower at Gail. He didn't seem overly happy that she had claimed "his" room so quickly. Undoubtedly, he had hid a few joke items in the room. It was probably for the best if Gail didn't riffle through the vanity and dressers.

"I put your clothes in the closet. Your posters are in the bigger dresser," Gail responded, "I just really don't want to stare at them."

"Why not?" Sirius asked accusingly. He quickly moved to retrieve his posters, "I only put the best up on the walls."

"Face it, mate," James entered the room after him, "Gail just doesn't like women the same way we do..."

"Why do you have muggle women on your posters, anyway?" Gail asked slowly, "James only has posters of witches... Mostly playing quidditch. Wizard pictures are much more entertaining."

"Muggles annoy his mum," James explained, jostling Sirius with his elbow, "and he _likes_ them."

"Oh, I heard he likes the blondes," Gail commented airily as she did her best impression of Amber flicking her hair back over her shoulder.

Sirius rolled his eyes and walked towards the door, "I would watch where you put your head on the pillow, Forester, if you know what I mean."

"Gross!" James laughed, following his friend.

That left Gail to stand alone in the room. What was worse, Gail had no idea what Sirius had meant by mentioning the pillow.

* * *

A few days after the break started, Peter dropped by for a visit. Gail was rather glad to see the plump little boy. There was only so much time that she could spend around James and Sirius before she could feel her temper flare up. They had started wrestling in random places about non-issues. When they weren't goofing off, they had taken to performing small pranks on her every once in a while, such as placing a static charm on her hairbrush. This inevitably lead to Gail doing her best to avoid them.

She really couldn't talk with Mr. Potter, because he was practically a stranger and it was like talking to an extremely old version of James. She always had the feeling that Mrs. Potter was too busy cooking meals and cleaning to have a serious conversation with Gail. It was a nice change to have a conversation with Peter. For the most part, Gail hunkered down and continued to read the animagus notes to pass the time.

"Hello Peter," Gail greeted the boy. He seemed to go slightly pink, probably because Gail usually ignored him. It was true, he had recently become more like a shadow, following James and Sirius around but never really being noticed by others. There were moments when he wasn't around, but it wasn't like anyone really cared. He was almost too good at sneaking around.

"H-hello Gail," Peter smiled bashfully at her.

"How's your break from these two morons been?" Gail gestured at James and Sirius, who were wrestling over who would get the second chicken leg that night. She had long since given up trying to wrestle with them, feeling that it was highly inappropriate when Mrs. Potter would cluck her tongue.

"It's been good," Peter responded cheerfully, "although, my father has been making me do more chores around the house, recently. He said it was because I got too many detentions."

"You've been getting detentions?" Gail asked incredulously.

"Just shows how much attention you pay to the rest of us," Sirius quipped, looked over his shoulder. He appeared to be winning the fight, "when ol' Moony is around."

"Yeah," Peter agreed, completely oblivious to the embarrassed blush on Gail's cheeks, "you tend to only see him when he's around. You haven't greeted me during meals in a while."

"Oh Peter," Gail looked shocked, "I'm really sorry."

"Gail and Moony, sitting on a broom," Sirius chided, "k-i-s-s-i-n-g."

"First comes love, then comes marriage," James joined, gleefully pouncing on Sirius, whose attention was elsewhere.

"I certainly hope you haven't been kissing any boys, Gail," Mrs. Potter interrupted their conversation. She settled herself in the arm chair next to Peter, "I haven't heard much but it sounds like you and Remus are dating."

"That's right," Gail nodded timidly, doing her best to keep her mind off of kissing Remus, "we just went on our first date a few weeks before my seventeenth birthday."

"Oh, that reminds me. James, dear..." Mrs. Potter turned her attention to her son, "oh for goodness sake, James, let go of Sirius. You are _not_ brothers, you know. You must treat your guests, ALL OF THEM, with respect."

"Yes mum," James released his grip on Sirius' head and retreated slightly. Sirius grinned cheekily at Gail and tossed a wink. That signified that he had won the scuffle. Gail was more impressed by how easily Mrs. Potter had reined in the messy haired youth.

"Have you signed up for apparition lessons?" Mrs. Potter asked calmly, "they should be starting just after you get back to school."

"Yes, mum," James pushed his glasses back up his nose and stared at his mother, "I signed up a few weeks ago when the notice got posted. I think Peter's the only one that's gonna have to wait another year for the lessons."

Mrs. Potter turned to survey Peter, a dismal look on her face, "your birthday comes after the test, doesn't it?"

"Yes," Petter nodded his head in agreement. He didn't really look ashamed that his birthday came later in the year, which was somewhat surprising.

"That's too bad, Peter," Gail patted the boy's arm, noticing that his face went slightly pink, "but at least you'll have Sirius and James to tutor you about apparating."

"Oh, I raised such nice boys," Mrs. Potter smiled fondly at both boys. The woman leaned forward in her hair to try and flatten out the back of James' hair. It wouldn't stay where she put it, so she eventually gave up. The whole situation was quite strange to Gail, who had never seen James act so much like... well, a Momma's boy.

"I suppose I had nothing to do with that, did I?" Mr. Potter entered the room and promptly dropped himself into a seat across from his wife. It was the first time Gail had seen him with a pipe, but she figured it suited the elderly man. The smoke that lingered around him smelled somewhat sweet.

"Oh, you!" Mrs. Potter smiled lovingly at her husband, "of course you did. Why, I remember when James used to run around in the backyard shouting that he was going to be just like his father."

There was a slight pause in the conversation. Gail half expected James to become embarrassed and tell him mother not to say anything about his childhood, but apparently Gail didn't know him well enough. He peacefully sat there, quite content that the entire conversation was focused on him. He as such a strange boy to enjoy being the topic of such an embarrassing conversation.

"Oh, I remember when he took my broom for a flight before he was even in Hogwarts," Mr. Potter said wistfully.

"That was fun," James protested slightly, "besides, no one cares about broomsticks. The muggles here don't mind."

"Your mother was right panicked," Mr. Potter recalled calmly, "and you even had the audacity to steal your poor mum's favourite hat right off her head."

Gail could just imagine a naughty little boy flying around on a broom that was far too big for him being chased around by Mrs. Potter. The thought made her smile. James must have had a wonderful childhood, she was almost jealous.

"What about you, missy?" Mr. Potter turned his attention to Gail, "what were you like growing up?"

"Oh me?" Gail thought about it for a moment, "I was a chubby, shy little girl."

"Oh, you must have been _cute_," Mrs. Potter smiled faintly at her, "but it's rather hard to imagine you chubby or shy."

"She was though," Sirius butted himself into the conversation, a wicked smile on his face, "used to give Peter a run for his money."

Mrs. Potter's mouth formed a circle, but she seemed a little speechless that Sirius would say something like that. Gail noted, out of the corner of her eye, that James seemed quite unhappy about the conversation not being centred around him. There wasn't anything she could do about it, though, because Mr. Potter was the one who changed the topic.

"Oh, Sirius," Mrs. Potter finally scolded mildly. She looked fairly displeased by the handsome boy's comments. She was more annoyed than anything. Instead of scolding Sirius more, though, she turned her attention back to Gail.

"I'm sure Gail wasn't ever that bad. Look what a lovely woman she turned into. You're able to perform magic outside of school now, right?"

"Yes," Gail nodded in agreement, "as an adult, I think I'm going to start renting my own flat over the summer. It's really not fair of my to intrude on Fabian and Gideon for another summer."

Sirius looked a little interested. If it had been just Gail and the boys in the room, she would have suggested he become her flatmate, but as it was, she didn't want to offend the Potters.

Mr. Potter shook nodded in approval, "if you ever need a place to stay, know that our doors are open. Sunday dinner is always at noon. But the next time you visit you should bring your red haired friend. I heard she's quite pretty."

"Dad!" James protested, "you're not allowed to flirt with Lily when I introduce her to you."

"I'm looking forward to it, son," Mr. Potter beamed at James. It seemed that they were having a father-son moment.

* * *

**Author Note:**

Oh, I love writing about holidays. Sorry, I'm updating a bit late in the day; I had a friend over and I had to drive her back to the train station.

Tomorrow will be my last update until Friday. Big things will be happening.

-Rue

* * *

**The Comment Gallery**_  
Host: Gail Forester  
Guest: Remus Lupin, James Potter, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew_

Gail: Welcome to the Comment Gallery. The marauders are here. Say hello, boys.

Marauders: Hello!

Gail: Peter, read the first review.

-Sirius mimics whipping Peter-

Peter: O-oh! Okay. The first review is from _Apocolips_.

Remus: That cake was good. Mmm...

James: My plan is working! IT'S WORKING!

Gail: Sirius, read the next one.

Sirius: Fine... Thanks for reviewing, _Angel of Apathy_. We all want some cake.

Remus: CAKE!

Gail: Yes, Sirius and Jo are developing, _Musik Drache_.

-Sirius grins cheekily-

James: _MaxRideRox_! My friend! My partner! MY SUPPORTER! Thank you.

Gail: That reminds me of a song by Evanescence.

Remus: Very interesting.

Peter: The last review is from _Lift the Wings_.

Sirius: Don't worry, Melanie is a small fry.

Gail: Without further ado, this chapter is BEING posted. See you all next chapter. Thanks for the reviews!


	38. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38**

As Christmas neared, it became even more festive around Godric's Hollow. For days on end, fluffy snowflakes fell on the sleepy village. Gail did her best to stay away from Sirius and James. When she wasn't studying, she ended up spending more time in the kitchen, helping Mrs. Potter out. Christmas dinner would be the biggest meal so far, so of course the woman needed a hand. Gail was quite glad to be in the kitchen and away from James and Sirius. The two boys had stuck a charmed bug onto her back that wouldn't stop singing. It took her nearly an hour to figure out that she wasn't going mad, and that the music was following her. Needless to say, she never wanted to hear that song again.

"Mr and Mrs. Lupin will be coming over, too," Mrs. Potter said kindly as she finished spicing the mashed potatoes, "have you met them before?"

"No, I haven't," Gail responded as she finished cutting up the raw vegetables. Mrs. Potter didn't seem like she was going to say anything about it. The woman was focused on pulling the large roast out of the oven.

The food was just about finished. Gail hadn't noticed how warm the kitchen was until she left the room. She almost walked into the back of a man as she turned around the corner. Looking up, she recognized his hair colour. The man turned around and took notice of her. He had very soft, exhausted features. His robes were fraying and patched in several places.

"Oh, am I in the way?" The man asked serenely, "I'm sorry."

Gail quickly shook her head, "no, I just turned the corner too quickly. You must be Mr. Lupin."

"Gail!" Remus entered the hallway, too, with his mother following him closely. He quickly moved to Gail's side and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Excitement licked at Gail's insides, "ah, I see you've met my father. Mother, Father, this is Gail Forester."

Remus' mother looked shocked by how close her son was to a girl, but her shock eventually melted into a warm smile under her son's stare. It was quite apparent that Remus' mother was quiet; she didn't say a word to Gail, but offered a small nod.

"It's nice to meet you, Gail," Remus' father shook her hand amiably. It was quite apparent where Remus got his kindness from, both of his parents were beaming warmly at both Remus and Gail.

"It's nice to meet both of you, too," Gail responded cheerfully. There was a long, rather awkward pause in which no one really knew what to say. Thankfully, Mr. Lupin was quite eloquent.

"You two are in Griffindor together? Same year and everything?" Mr. Lupin asked calmly. Gail noted that his eyes and nose were very similar to Remus', "we were quite surprised that our Remus ended up in Griffindor when we were both in Hufflepuff... But that doesn't make us any less proud of him."

Before Gail could even respond, Mrs. Potter bustled in, "dinner is ready. Everyone, come in and take a seat. Hurry, before the meal gets cold."

When everyone was seated around the Potter's table, which had been charmed to be able to seat more people, Gail leaned over to whisper to Remus.

"Do they know I know?" Gail whispered quietly, as she passed him the bowl of mashed potatoes.

"They're under the impression that no one knows," Remus whispered back as he took the bowl. Gail noted that he didn't take any, either, "because I haven't been kicked out of school yet. So that's why they were a little bit perplexed by you."

Gail didn't know that 'perplexed' was the right word for it. Remus' parents had seemed to shy away from congratulating their son on dating her. Perhaps they expected the relationship to be cut short.

"You didn't tell them about me, did you?" Gail asked quietly. It was nice that James and Sirius were talking about Peter's rash quite loudly at the dinner table. The adults didn't seem to notice anything. It was the perfect atmosphere for a private conversation with Remus.

"I'm sorry," Remus looked at her, or rather, passed her. Trays of roast beef, vegetables and what have you seemed to be piling up on Gail's side, since Peter just kept trying to hand them to her.

"Oops," Gail frantically handed Remus a few platters to get the food moving again. She took a few vegetables here and there, as well as some roast beef. She noted the stark lack of vegetables on Remus' plate and how it was overcompensated for with meat. Mrs. Potter seemed to notice the same thing and made clucked her tongue quietly.

The meal was going splendidly, there didn't seem to be any hidden pranks anywhere. Gail thankfully ate while half-listening to the boys debating whether or not some quidditch team would win any games. The holiday mood was ruined by a loud crack, though. It sounded like a whip had gone by over their heads. Mrs. Potter turned to stare down the table at Sirius and James.

"What have you done this year, boys?" Mr. Potter asked, rising from the table. He carefully placed his napkin beside his plate before turning around.

"It wasn't us, Dad," James answered quickly. Gail would have thought he was lying if she hadn't seen the look in James' eyes. Mr. Potter seemed to believe his son. The man pulled out his wand and moved towards the window.

"It looks like our dinner is over now. Em, take the kids into the basement. Use the magic lock," Mr. Potter frowned over his should at the kids, "the Death Eaters are attacking Godric's Hollow. They've probably blocked off the Floo Network already. Lupin, old boy, are you ready for a bit of a fight?"

Before Gail could even protest, Mrs. Potter had brandished her wand and swept the children down into the basement. There were several protests while she was doing so.

"What about Dad?" James protested angrily, "you know he can't do everything himself."

"You're far too young to fight," Mrs. Potter bristled, forcing her son into the basement, "besides, you should stay down there and protect your friends, if the worst should happen. Remember, there are a few brooms down there, so run if you get caught."

Before James could protest again or Remus could say anything, Mrs. Potter swung the door closed and had already locked it. There was only one way out, and it was through a window that was hidden from sight by an enchanted rose bush. Even James knew that it would be a truly idiotic idea to sneak out that way, though. If they did, they would be walking out into the open and would be sitting ducks to the Death Eaters.

"Don't worry," James stared ruefully at the door, "my Dad won't lose."

* * *

Waiting.

Why was it so painful? The air in the basement was stale and gloomy. It looked like Mrs. Potter had once used the basement to store things, such as outdated brooms. It looked like she had also used the basement as a place to brew potions and dry different herbs. To pass the time, Gail stared at the herbs that were drying on the rack. She was doing her best to try and name them. After what seemed like hours, Gail turned her attention to her companions.

It seemed like James was worried. He kept pacing around while clenching and unclenching his fist on his wand. Gail understood that he was anxious to hear from his parents, but there was little he could do. The one person that could have calmed James down was looking quite anxious himself. Sirius kept staring at the door, as if he was willing it to open. He had sat himself on an old rocking chair in the middle of the room. By his actions, Gail couldn't tell if he was claustrophobic or just worried for James' parents.

Remus was no better off. Both of his parents were also still in the house, maybe fighting alongside the Potters. He was more reserved though, and had taken a seat on the edge in silence. Gail felt that she couldn't even approach him because the mood he was giving off was just _that_ foul. As much as she wanted to sit next to him and whisper soothing words, she knew it would not help him at all.

Peter seemed to be the most upbeat of the four. Neither of his parents were in danger of dying. His only concern was survival, which would be easy if he could pop into his animagus form and just look like a rat that had been trapped in the basement. Of course, where would that leave everyone else? Gail shoved that thought out of her mind. Peter would definitely not run away while his friends were in danger.

"Why?!" James finally stopped pacing, allowing the dust to settle around him, "why should we be stuck in here while there's a fight going on? We could help them."

Sirius' head shot up. Gail couldn't see his eyes, "we can't get out of here, mate. Settle down for a bit."

"We could use the window," James suggested wildly.

"And risk walking right into a bunch of Death Eaters? That's the quick way to lose," Sirius snorted derisively, "I'm all for fighting, but we have no chance, mate."

"But-" James protested weakly.

"If we go out there now," Remus spoke over top of James. His voice was deadly serious, "then we risk getting not only ourselves killed, but also our parents. They can operate much better without having to watch over us."

It took a moment for James to let his friends' words sink in. He slumped slightly, relaxing his grip on his wand. Remus seemed relieved that James had given up the notion of running out of the basement to save his parents. With the tension in the room broken, Gail took a chance to sneak over next to Remus. Carefully, she placed a hand on his knee. She was quite relieved when he didn't brush her hand away, but instead took her hand in his own.

"You could send Peter through the window," Gail suggested finally. The boys gaped at her for a few minutes, as if realizing that she was there the whole time. James didn't seem to approve of the idea.

"We can't send him alone," James said quietly. Peter nodded his head.

"He'll be safe as long as he stays in his animagus form," Gail said quietly, "at least we'll know what's going on outside if he can peak outside."

Peter seemed to become slightly depressed when four pairs of eyes stared at him. He finally gave way and sulkily nodded his head. Before her eyes, Peter turned into a rat. Gail didn't even have time to admire how easily the boy had transformed. Sirius jumped to his feet and pushed open the window. The window squeaked and caused dust to fly around him for a moment. In an act of teamwork, James picked Wormtail up and lifted him to the window.

"Be careful, Wormy," James gave some parting words to his friend, "scratch on the window, and we'll let you back in."

The remaining teenagers settled themselves in to wait again. Gail sighed quietly. If she was an animagus, she would have been able to go with Peter. In her heart, she knew that she would study the notes furiously when she got out, in order to become an animagus as quickly as she could. The silence in the basement was stifling. After about five minutes, Gail heard a faint scratching noise. Peter was back at the window. Hurriedly, James opened the window and pulled the rat back inside. Quickly, Peter changed back.

"I didn't see any fighting," Peter reported to James, "it looks like one of the muggle families was targeted, since the mark was set up a few houses over. That's the cracking noise that we heard. I think the other wizarding families in the area have also gone to help out."

James seemed to relax slightly at the news. If the other families in the area had gone to help, then it was less likely there would be a fatality. Hopefully, the ministry would be fast with sending their aurors and the Order would send their members to help, as well.

"This is horrible," Gail said quietly, "those poor muggles... They couldn't even protect themselves from wizards."

James shifted slightly, "even if it was us... while we were eating."

"None of us had wands out, even," Sirius finished James' thought. He was staring darkly at the floor. Gail noticed that Remus' face darkened by the thought. The mood in the basement seemed to become depressing once again.

"Can I stay in here?" Peter asked meekly after a few minutes of silence, "I really don't want to go back outside."

"Sure, Wormy," James patted the plump boy on the back, "you did good. Thanks for looking outside."

Peter sat down on the floor, slumping against the wall. He seemed to be a little bit worn out. Gail faintly wondered if he had been running around outside. It would probably do the boy good to lose a few pounds, just so that he could keep up with the other marauders. It was probably embarrassing for him to be compared with the other boys, who were all reasonably tall and lanky, so Gail didn't say anything.

Without warning, the door to the basement was flung open. Standing in the doorway was a gruff looking man that Gail quickly recognized. Alastor Moody seemed to have a few new cuts on his face. Never would Gail have thought that she would be happy to seen the man.

"Mr. Moody," Gail gasped, standing up to face him.

"Everyone alright down here?" Moody asked sharply, his eyes darting around the room, "good hiding spot. Wouldn't have found it without my eye."

Moody made his way down the steps into the basement and came face to face with James Potter. Before James could even say anything, Moody spun around to stare at Gail. He quickly continued talking, "quick, girl. Affirm that I'm not under _their_ control. Ask me a question that only I know."

"What did I give you the last time we met?" Gail asked quickly, watching the man's electric blue eyes spin around quickly.

"A letter and a recipe about your potion," Moody answered promptly. Seeing Gail nod, he gestured for them to exit the basement, "now you know it's safe to leave. There aren't anymore Death Eaters in the area."

After being stuck in the basement for almost two hours, the lights in the house stung Gail's eyes. She couldn't imagine being stuck in the basement for days. That would have been horrible. Faintly, Gail felt herself and the others being herded towards the kitchen. When they finally entered the kitchen, they were greeted by Remus' parents. The teenager looked so relieved when he darted forward to wrap his parents in a hug. For a moment, Gail completely forgot about the Potters because of the touching scene between the Lupins.

"Mother, Father, what happened? Was there a fight?" Remus finally asked his two parents. The three of them didn't seem to notice that they were the centre of attention in the warm kitchen.

Remus' father inclined his head, "there was a bit of a scuffle, but it was four against three before the aurors showed up. Luckily, it wasn't a large group of Death Eaters."

"Where are my parents?" James asked quite loudly, staring back and forth between Moody and the Lupins.

As if to answer her son's call, Mrs. Potter seemed to stumble into the kitchen. A man was helping her to stand up straight. He seemed to me a mediwizard. There didn't seem to be anything wrong with Mrs. Potter, just by looking at her, but here eyes showed shock and pain. Deep pain. Gail recognized the look, she had seen it in Mrs. Prewett's face many times. Gail's stomach seemed to close in on itself as she was waiting for the news.

"James! Oh, my sweet boy," Mrs. Potter launched herself at her son, wrapping her short arms around the lanky boy. James stood there, staring down at his mother through his glasses for a moment.

"Mum, listen to me," James gently pushed his mother away. He seemed to be trembling, "where is _he_?"

"He's... he's..." Mrs. Potter seemed to crumble slightly, whimpering. She didn't seem quite sane at that moment. She shook her head like she couldn't spit it out.

It hit Gail. Would James ever get the chance to introduce Lily Evans to his father, as he had promised?

"Where is he?" James asked more firmly.

"I'm sorry," the mediwizard stepped in, taking Mrs. Potter by the arm. He attempted to pry the woman's grasp off of her son, but Mrs. Potter refused to budge, "it looks like she got hit by a crucius curse. She's been a little unstable. She needs some rest and..."

"James!" Mrs. Potter clung to him, "your father, he's..."

* * *

**Author Note:**

Okay, so I planned that cliff hanger. Mr. Potter! What happened!

The next update will be on Friday, maybe earlier... Depending on how boring classes are.

-Rue

* * *

**The Comment Gallery**_  
Host: Gail Forester  
Guest: Amber Button_

Gail: Welcome to the Comment Gallery! Amber decided to drop by today.

Amber: Hello!

Gail: We have a bunch of reviews to go through. Thanks for reviewing guys!

Amber: The first review is from _Apocolips_. The last chapter was a bit slow, but I think it was necessary to show a bit of what James is like around his parents.

Gail: He's such a momma's boy... Or is it daddy's boy.

Amber: That's true.

Gail: Thanks for reviewing _Three Faces Of Eve_. You hit the nail on the head. Congratulations.

Amber: Revealing the mystery is necessary for those that don't know their Greek Mythology.

Gail: It's funny, but I ALMOST was a nymph, but Rue found that that would have made me too close to Faye, the main character of _Hidden Flame_.

Amber: And that would be stealing. Yep yep.

Gail: The next review is from _Musik Drache_. This story is AU, but Rue will do her best to keep it as close to the books as I can... with a few changes.

Amber: Deaths! No~! NOOOO!!!

-Gail twitches-

Gail: The next review is from _Moonwalker_. Where WAS Remus? Spending time with his family, I'm sure.

Amber: Peter has a crush on you, Gail?

Gail: Doubtful. The boy gets excited just by talking to girls.

Amber: The next review is from _analogheart828_. Congratulations on reading all of the chapters! Thank you for sticking with it!

Gail: Yes, we quite like Evanescence. Rue has two of their cds, and the older one is worn out.

Amber: -sings- _Hello, I'm the lie living for you so you can hide_. [Hello by Evanescence]

Gail: The last review is from _MaxRideRox_. Sirius Black. COOKIE?!

-Gail holds out hand-

Amber: Remus likes anything that isn't VEGETABLES. Haha

Gail: It's sad, isn't it.

Amber: The only one that's rooting for James and Lily... Very avidly. Wow.

-Gail scratches the back of her head-

Gail: That's all the time we have for today. Remember, the next update will be on Friday. See you then!


	39. Chapter 39

**Chapter 39**

"_James!" Mrs. Potter clung to him, "your father, he's..."_

Mrs. Potter was breathing heavily and her eyes looked red. It took her a few seconds to find the right words, "he's in St. Mungos. They got him in the chest with two stingers... The mediwizards don't know if he'll make it."

Gail couldn't see James' face, but she assumed it was contorted in pain. Tremors ran through him arbitrarily. He didn't respond, he didn't even turn around. It was worse for Gail to look at Sirius, though. She could see his face. He was on the brink of crying, which would have been stunning during different conditions. Gail supposed that it was like he was losing the only father figure he had ever cared about. She couldn't begin to understand how they felt with Mr. Potter hanging on the edge of death.

"Come along, Emilie," the mediwizard took the woman by the arm, offering an apologetic look towards James and Sirius, "it's time to go. Come along..."

"Let's go to St. Mungos," Gail suggested. Not a word was spoken in the kitchen until Gail opened her mouth. She was surprised that her voice didn't crack as she spoke, and that her tone was more calm than she had intended.

James whipped around to stare at her. His eyes were red and he looked like he was about ready to jump down Gail's throat for her suggestion. All that Gail could think to do was pull him into a hug. It took him a moment to calm himself down enough to speak.

"That's a good idea," James croaked, "I'd like to make sure they're treating Mum well... And I'd like to visit my dad."

"We can take you. It should be safe enough while it's still light outside," Mr. Lupin finally spoke up. Gail had almost forgotten that he was there. She quickly released James and turned to look at the family. Remus looked a little pained, likely because two of his best friends were having a hard time.

"It's just a short broom ride," Mrs. Lupin finally spoke, almost making Gail jump out of her skin. The woman had a wonderfully sweet voice. It was a pity that she spoke in half-whispers, "come along, children. I'll perform the Disillusionment Charm..."

"_Accio brooms_," Mr. Lupin easily summoned the brooms and handed one to each teenager. Mrs. Lupin quickly tapped her wand onto each of their heads. The charm felt like a snowball was melting on her head and the water was trickling down the back of her neck. It was no wonder how Remus had turned out so talented; both of his parents were exceptionally skilled. Even his mother, who was supposedly a muggle born, was talented.

"Keep close together now," Mr. Lupin nodded to his wife, who then climbed on the back of his broom, "follow me. The muggles won't be able to see me, but you can."

With that, Mr. Lupin caused the back door of the kitchen to fly open with his wand. Within seconds, the small group was flying through the dusk. Gail hoped that the sun would stay up long enough for them to find their way back to London.

* * *

St. Mungos was different than what Gail had expected. It was exactly like what a muggle would expect from a hospital. The walls were white to match the floor and the ceiling. It was far too clean. The smell of cleanliness hung around the hospital, almost pungently. The smell was quite nauseating to Gail, for some reason. She couldn't put a finger on it, but it faintly reminded her of something she had smelled in the Hospital Wing back at Hogwarts.

"Your parents should be on the fourth floor," Mr. Lupin advised quietly, without having to look at the board. It was obvious that he had spent time in the hospital; Gail wondered if Remus had been a patient after he was bitten.

James and Sirius darted into the hospital quickly. Upon Mr and Mrs. Lupin's approving nod, Peter, Remus and Gail followed them. The smell of the hospital only got worse as they got further into the hospital; and was joined by several disgusting smells that effectively made sure that Gail would not peak her head into any of the open rooms.

"When I was younger, I wanted to be a healer," Remus said quietly, walking alongside Gail.

"Really?" Gail couldn't distinctly remember ever wanting to _be_ anything. Of course, she'd love to take care of all kinds of animals, but that wasn't a specific job, "I would have failed at that... I did so bad on the potions OWL."

Remus' only response was a humourless chuckle. Gail looked over at Peter.

"Hey Peter," Gail patted the chubby boy on the shoulder, "don't look so worried. I'm sure Mr. Potter will keep holding on for his family."

Peter nodded sullenly. He didn't turn his watery eyes away from the doorway to the Spell Damage ward at the top of the stairs. Gail surveyed the door, noticing the disappearance of two robe tails into the ward.

"Dad!" James' cry reached Gail's ears, even out in the hallway. As she entered the ward, she saw James sitting on the side of Mr. Potter's bed. The man was sitting up and looking perfectly peeved at being kept in the hospital. Gail felt her tears well up; she had never felt so relieved in her life. Luckily, Remus directed her towards the bed when the tears made her sight blurry.

"I don't understand why the healers want to keep me here," Mr. Potter protested grumpily, "your mum got it worse than I did."

Mrs. Potter merely looked at her husband in dismay. She continued to knit without saying a word. It looked like she was working on a hot pink and gold sweater. Gail could only wonder who it was for. James' mother seemed to be taking the hospital stay quite well. She didn't complain once about being stuck in the room and even seemed a bit glad for the rest now that she knew her husband would be fine.

"Ah, that reminds me," Mr. Potter's voice snapped Gail out of her daydream, "you kids will be fine at home for the rest of the week? Gail and Sirius are adults now, so that shouldn't be a problem... James, be on your best behaviour."

"But Dad, how will we get to the train?" James asked, staring incredulously at his father. Gail couldn't tell if he was bewildered that his father trusted them, or if he was elated to stay home alone for once.

"You'll just have to act like muggles, James," Mr. Potter said slowly, "or take the Knight Bus... I'm starting to have second thoughts. Perhaps Remus should stay over, as well, to keep you two troublemakers in line."

"Excellent," James looked happy, "Moony, you'll stay over, right?"

Remus looked over at his parents and in seeing their affirming nod, he spoke, "sure thing. I might as well spend my _precious_ time watching over two naughty boys."

Mr and Mrs. Lupin exchanged glances. Gail worried for a moment that her presence at the Potters' would make them uncomfortable with the idea of Remus staying over. She couldn't get any more wrong, with this prediction. Instead, Remus' father clapped his son on the back and beamed at him. Mrs. Lupin hurried over to her son and gave the embarrassed teenager a kiss on each cheek. It was humorous to watch this; she had to stand on her toes to reach and even then, Remus had to bend over. Peter was completely forgotten, yet again, but Gail was glad that he wouldn't be staying over. James usually tried to show off for the mousey boy.

* * *

"MOONY!"

Gail noticed that James and Sirius became better behaved when the parents weren't home. It was like a huge change had overcome them. This was likely due to the Death Eater attack on Godric Hollow, though. It was apparent that they had taken the whole episode to heart. Neither boy lifted a finger to play a prank on her for the remainder of their holiday.

"What is it?" Remus peaked his head out of the kitchen. Quickly, Gail looked up from the animagus notes. It shocked her to see Remus with bits of flour stuck to his cheek. They had decided that it was Remus' job to cook breakfast, James and Sirius would tackle lunch and Gail would prepare dinner. It wasn't a joke that the marauders had settled down. Gail had been able to eat every meal after Christmas without so much as a colour change charm placed on her.

"I want chocolate chip pancakes," Sirius suggested. Remus' only response was to duck back into the kitchen. Of course they would have chocolate chip pancakes. Remus had an affinity for anything sweet.

"How's the reading coming?" Sirius asked, plopping himself next to Gail. She didn't lift her head up to respond.

"Well enough," Gail mumbled. She had found the notes had become fairly easier after the boys had explained the most difficult diagram to her. She was easily three quarters finished. If she continued on the way she was going, she would be able to finish before exams, but it was likely that apparition lessons would get in the way.

There was a bit of a pause in the conversation. Faintly, she wondered where James was. Gail figured that he had a lot of thinking to do, so he had hidden himself away in his bedroom for a good part of every day. Gail hadn't noticed, but she hadn't been alone with Sirius in a while.

"Why are you so boring?" Sirius asked frigidly, "the least you could do is look up when someone's talking to you."

"Are you so lonely that you need to talk with me?" Gail finally snapped the book closed and turned her dark eyes to Sirius. She really didn't expect him to answer; they had drifted apart recently. They couldn't even be considered friends. She had assumed that he was still sore about being told off by Remus, or something equally moronic.

"No," Sirius snorted. There was a hint of fire behind his smouldering grey eyes.

All Gail could do was sigh. It was like him to play childish games with his prey, "have you heard from Jo over Christmas?"

"Mmhmm," Sirius stared at her, "jealous?"

"Nope," Gail responded cheerfully, "I get to spend part of the holiday with Remus. Why would I be jealous? It's not like I'm pining for Jo."

"Ouch," James yawned, trudging into the room. He kept rubbing his neck like he'd slept on it wrong. His hair was quite messy and his face shone with a hint of laughter, "you got shot down, mate."

Sirius snapped a cool look at James, not pleased that James was finding humour at his expense, "at least I don't get shot down every day, _mate_."

"I would beat you if I wasn't so tired," James said, rotating his shoulders stiffly. He quickly turned to Gail with a knowing look, "last night, Moony kept kicking me... And Padfoot took up too much of my bed."

"Not my fault you picked the short straw and have to sleep in the middle," Sirius looked away cooly. As if on queue, Remus called out.

"Breakfast is ready."

Sirius leapt to his feet and exited the room with James following behind him. Gail had no choice but to get up and speed after them, before they could eat all of the pancakes. They settled down to eat in the kitchen at a small, wooden table that was just big enough for the four of them. She sat herself next to Remus and Sirius. Gail was finally close enough that she could make out the tired lines under James' eyes. It finally hit her; James was spending time napping in his room, so that he could get some sleep when he didn't have to share the bed with his two friends.

Sirius was carefully cutting up his pancakes into squares before putting anything onto them. He then grabbed the syrup and drenched the pancake squares. It was quite strange to her. Gail normally slathered butter and syrup on her pancakes. Gail noted that Remus made a puddle of syrup on his plate before taking a pancake and placing it on top and covering it with more syrup. Sure enough, it was a way to get the sweet liquid on both sides.

"You eat yours weird, Gail," James stated, across the table, "who puts butter on theirs. Really."

"I do," Gail frowned at him. It looked like he had layered at _least_ four pancakes and was trying to cut them at the same time. Unfortunately, it wasn't working so well for him. Gail figured he'd seen it in a muggle cartoon at one point.

"Her way is cute," Remus said peacefully, "but it makes me wonder..."

"You put butter on toast, don't you?" Gail asked slowly, turning to stare at him, "and then jam? It's the same principle. The butter leaves a coating so that the syrup stays on the outside."

"Mmm," Remus stared for a moment, "but I like mine drenched..."

"Then you should be doing it the way Sirius does," Gail jerked her head at the dark haired boy, who had a mouthful of pancakes with some syrup dripping down his chin. For a moment, she was quite bewildered. Never before would she have dreamed that the boy would had perfect hair every moment of his life couldn't eat pancakes without dribbling syrup down his front.

"Someone get Paddy a bib," James teased mildly.

"Shuddup," Sirius growled, sulking shuffling the pancakes around with his fork.

"Here," Gail handed him a napkin, which he snatched and wiped his face off.

* * *

It was hectic to get everything ready to go back to Hogwarts. Gail was the only one who took an owl, or pet for that matter, with her to school. This was a relief. She couldn't imagine having to help the others catch and cage theirs. Gail assumed that the marauders' parents knew enough not to allow their irresponsible sons to keep animals. Well, Remus wasn't irresponsible, but it Gail didn't know if his family could afford one, from the looks of their robes. She faintly remembered Remus saying that his parents had gone to great lengths and hardships to look for a cure for his lycanthropy, but to no avail.

Gail and Remus made sure that the other two marauders had packed. It was a tough feat and she was quite sure she'd have been driven mad before they even got halfway finished. Remus had been careful to keep all of his books in his own trunk or in specific spots, unlike the other two boys. Several scuffles broke out when James would claim Sirius' books as his own, or vice versa. Sirius even tried to lay claim on some of James' clean socks. It got to the point that Gail and Remus would just continue packing around their "brotherly fighting".

"So we're taking the Knight Bus?" James asked happily after reclaiming his socks to place in his full trunk.

"I wouldn't dare let you two ride in a muggle cab," Gail retorted tiredly, "we would have to use memory charms on them at least twice."

"Probably more like ten times," Remus grinned at her, shoving the top of Sirius' trunk closed. It was amazing how much stuff could be stored in two trunks; you could almost see the floor of James' bedroom.

"Dibs on summoning it," Sirius called, pointing his wand at his trunk, "_locomotor_."

"Sure," Gail sighed heavily, knowing she would regret it. Luckily for her, she'd left her trunk in near the front entrance. In the back of her head, she knew they wouldn't wait for her to grab her things.

Fright, who was sitting peacefully in his cage, seemed to catch James' attention. With his luminescent eyes locked onto James, Fright hooted warningly. Gail was reminded of the prank that the boys had tried on her before Christmas. Their one mistake had been trying to catch Fright. The burrowing owl had effectively defended himself and evaded the two mischievous boys. Apparently, James had not forgotten this.

"Hellish bird," James scoffed silently to Sirius, rubbing the site where Fright had scratched him. Out of the corner of her eyes, Gail saw Sirius nodding his head in agreement. Outside, knee deep in the snow, Sirius fumbled with his wand. Gail had never taken the bus before, so she was quite curious as to what it looked like.

It came a lot quicker than she had figured it would. The bus looked like every other bus in London on the outside.

"Hello, I will be your conductor. My name is Miltsy Milblum," an older looking woman greeted them, "you dearies heading to the Hogwarts Express? Climb on, then, we'll get you there without a problem. Tell me your names then..."

"I'm James Potter," Sirius declared avidly before gesturing at James, "this is Remus Lupin and the tall guy over there is Frank Longbottom. The girl is Alice Cornwell."

Gail could have kicked Sirius at that moment. Why couldn't he just claim to be Peter and leave it at that? Why did he have to drag Frank and Alice into it? The two had been quite nice to Gail when they were still in Hogwarts. Sure, they were two years older, but neither one of them had never said anything insulting to Gail. She was sure that she remembered Alice tripping a Slytherin and tossing her a wink, once.

"Oh good. Nice to meet you, James," Miltsy smiled charmingly at them, ushering them onto the bus. It was strange to see that the interior was far larger than the outside suggested. There were seats all around the bus, but they didn't seem to be attached to anything. Quickly, Gail shuffled to sit down on one of the unoccupied chairs. She noticed that James, Remus and Sirius did the same. The two naughty marauders looked quite excited, for some reason. When Miltsy finished bringing their luggage in, she nodded to the driver, Gail hadn't caught his name, and the bus took off.

It was chaos.

Only a wizard or witch could have devised a way to travel that was so dangerous. Gail was quite sure that the driver was a little bit loopy. He was going way too fast and everything in the bus was flying around. Luckily, Gail was able to grab Fright's cage and keep the startled owl safe. The bus eventually stopped.

"You dearies just head straight to the train, now," the elderly woman smiled and she unloaded their things, "we're on the wizarding side of the barrier now. Ta, dearies."

The strange bus conductor hauled herself back onto the Knight bus and it sped off again. Gail, feeling stunned by the whole thing, wearily headed towards the train behind the marauders. They eventually met up with Peter and began whispering excitedly back and forth. Gail took this as her cue to leave, merely offering a shy wave to Remus. He returned it before giving his full attention to his friends.

"Well?" A call came from behind Gail. Quickly turning around, she almost fell over as a dark red haired head bumped into her shoulder. Lily pulled her into a quick hug before pulling back and staring at Gail as if she expected something.

"I survived?" Gail laughed nervously, "I'll tell you about it when we get on the train. I promise you, James Potter was _not_ the worst part of my Christmas break."

* * *

**Author Note:**

I just realized that I'm posting this chapter on my birthday, which is also the anniversary of 9-11.

It would be utterly bad of me to allow Mr. Potter to die today.

Frankly, I'm surprised that I even got this chapter finished. I'm so tired from running around the university for three days. Phew! I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I will do my best to get chapter 40 uploaded by monday!

It looks like seventy two of you are up to date on the chapter! Congratulations. Maybe I should include a small cliffhanger every chapter! Nah... But it makes the beginning of the chapter a breeze to write.

Next chapter is 40. Oh my, oh my. Another milestone. Is this story becoming scary to new readers? I tend to shy away from shorter ones, myself...

-Rue

* * *

**The Comment Gallery**_  
Host: Gail Forester  
Guests: James Potter, Severus Snape_

Gail: Welcome to the Comment Gallery... Hey, wait. JAMES POTTER, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?

James: Nuffin'.

Gail: Then WHY is Snape on the floor, looking like he has at least ten different hexes on him?

James: Oh, that? I won the duel.

Gail: Well... I suppose it'll make Snape a better person.

-Gail bumps petrified-Snape with her toe-

Gail: Well, the first review is from _Apocolips_. Yes, it was emotional.

James: Dad is safe, though. -Phew-

Gail: That's for sure. Okay, the next review is from _Musik Drache_. I really like Remus' parents... In fact, I'm extremely attached to all of the parents in this story, except Sirius' mother and father. Bleugh...

James: You like my parents too?

Gail: Yeah, they're nice.

James: You great big orphan, you. They're mine! MINE!!

-James swipes at Gail-

Gail: Fine, fine. The next review is from _MaxRideRox_. COOKIE! -eats-

James: Seventh year? ...

-James is sad-

Gail: Angel of Apathy! It's Friday! Don't worry, I don't even pull two cliffhangers in a row!

James: Oh, the review from _Sanity_. I agree! MORE JAMES/LILY FLUFF!

Gail: That won't ever work.

-James pouts-

Gail: Er... okay, _Lift the Wings_: yes, I'm lucky to date Remus. He's so wonderful...

James: Most girls would choose Sirius.

-Gail blows a raspberry-

Gail: Fred-Weasley-Isn't-Dead! NO! He can't die... Erm, yeah, I think I've commented on your name too many times. But you will get to meet Harry's grandfather in my story! Horray! Story of the messy haired men!

James: As well as Fabian and Gideon!

Gail: Mmm... Okay, the last review is from EricaRules. Thanks for the review! I hope you continue to read and enjoy the story.

James: Is that it?

Gail: Yes. I have quite a bit of homework to do in Transfiguration.

James: You actually do your homework? Ha.

Gail: Sirius said the same thing, didn't he?

James: Probably.

Gail: Oh well. See you next chapter!


	40. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40**

Gail had never been so glad to be back in Hogwarts and completely _not_ responsible for the marauders. There were a few weeks before apparition lessons started. Things seemed normal at the wizarding school except for those that knew where to look. Specifically, Gail noticed things had become a little bit choppy between herself and Jo, for whatever reason, and things between Lily and James seemed to be improving. This was because of Lily's sympathetic heart. After the redhead had been informed about the attack on Godric's Hollow, she had been positively oozing kindness towards James.

"Oye, Evans," James approached the redhead during their lunch break one day. Quite a few pairs of eyes snapped over to him. Quite a few people enjoyed watching pair's spats.

To Gail's surprise, Lily turned around and surveyed James Potter earnestly before speaking, "yes?"

"I was wondering if you remembered what chapter of the Charms textbook we were supposed to be going over. It slipped my mind," James fibbed casually. Surprisingly, he didn't mess his hair up, as he usually did in Lily's presence. Gail suspected he was more than slightly surprised that Lily did not shoot him down immediately.

"Professor Flitwick wanted us to read chapter six. It's on the abstract uses of the Aguamenti Charm," Lily stated smartly. It was surprising to all of the people around her that she hadn't snapped at James at all, not even for not remembering or paying attention in class.

"Oh," James slowly dropped himself into a seat next to Lily, "what did you think of the chapter? Was it useful?"

Lily deliberated for a moment before nodding, "yes, I believe it was useful. It made several good points about how to use the charm appropriately. I find it fascinating that several wizards have been known to drown because of its improper use."

James scratched his chin in thought before nodding. He gave Lily a faint smile before speaking, "yes, well, it's a known saying that many wizards lack the rational thoughts and sound judgement that muggles and muggleborns use so often in their perception of reality and danger. Look at Quidditch; no sane muggle would ever think of playing such a dangerous game."

Gail was blown out of the water. She could hardly follow what James and Lily were talking about, it was a level above her. After a while she gave up trying to listen in on their conversation, along with all of the other people sitting near the two teenagers. Never before would she have thought that James could be the intellectual equal of Lily, but somehow it was true. Lily seemed pleasantly surprised by this fact, too.

"I think that's the longest conversation I've ever seen them have," Remus remarked quietly beside her. Peter was busy beside him shoving food into his mouth. It was apparent that he wouldn't be joining the conversation.

"It really is," Gail sighed faintly, turning to Remus. She spoke quietly, so that she wouldn't distract the two from their in depth conversation, "I think she's being nicer because of what happened at Christmas."

There was a momentary pause before Remus spoke, out of the blue, "oh, want to go for a walk?" We haven't had the chance in a while. We can walk to Care of Magical Creatures, or something."

"Okay," Gail stood up and followed the sweet tempered boy out of the Great Hall. It was quite pleasing to see Lily talking avidly about her passions with James. All thoughts of her two friends were flushed out of her mind, though, when Remus took her hand. It was strange how quickly he could dominate her mind with just a slight touch.

"Have you heard from your parents?" Gail asked hopefully, "they're both fine after the attack? We didn't really get to hear from them."

"They're both fine," Remus smiled broadly, "in their last letter, they wrote that they think you're a wonderful girl."

Gail could feel her face heating up momentarily, "that was sweet of them. I'm glad I gave off a good first impression..."

"That's important to you, isn't it?" Remus asked slowly, his face showing a touch of intrigue, "you're always try your best to get adults to like you... On purpose?"

"I suppose it is important to me, at least subconsciously," Gail had to think about it, "I've never deliberately acted differently, though... If that's what you're implying."

"No," Remus shook his head, "I think it's just the fact that you're an... For lack of a better word, orphan, you want the people you perceive as parents to look kindly on you. It's like you're searching for something you've lost."

"Lost and lost," Gail sighed heavily, releasing Remus' hand so that she could link arms and lean up against him, "my "father"... and then the Prewetts. The Prewetts were more like grandparents to me, though."

Before Remus could respond, there was a should from around the corner of the hall. It sounded like Jo's voice, but what she was saying couldn't be made out because of the muffling effect of the statues in Hogwarts. Together, Remus and Gail slowly walked closer.

"I told you that I don't think of her that way anymore. Am I that untrustworthy that you won't listen to a _word_ I say?" It was obvious that Sirius and Jo were having a heated argument, but it took Gail a few minutes of listening in to realize what they were fighting about.

"You spent CHRISTMAS with her, Sirius," Jo hollered, "what was I to think? You've spent a whole two weeks with her..."

"And treating her like she's a sister?" Gail could imagine the glower on Sirius' face, by that tone. If there was one thing she knew about Sirius, it was that he hated pushy, possessive and controlling women.

"Sister?" Jo hissed loudly, "yeah right, Sirius. I've seen you stare at her when she's not paying attention and when Remus isn't around. You think she's beautiful. Don't deny it."

"I don't care what you thought you saw. I broke up with her; something I would _never_ do if I had those kinds of feelings for her," Sirius explained, still with a twinge of anger in his voice, "she was only ever an interesting pass time. Arm candy, if you will."

It took a moment for Jo to respond, her voice filled with hope, "really?"

"Yes, really," Sirius responded so quietly that Gail almost couldn't hear his response. It was a half-growl and that could only mean one thing. The ensuing silence was proof. Gail didn't need to look to understand that Sirius and Jo were snogging in the middle of the hallway. Gail judged that Remus understood what the silence meant by the crimson colour of his cheeks. Quietly, he took her arm and lead her back down the hallway that they'd come from.

When they were far enough from the snogging couple, Remus finally spoke, "I think I'm going to have a little chat with Padfoot later."

"Why?" Gail asked, quite perplexed. Sirius had just admitted that their relationship had been nothing but a fling.

"He was obviously lying to Jo," Remus laughed cynically , "I wouldn't doubt if he's a bit jealous over you, still. Padfoot can be like that... And here I thought that Sirius had honestly started treating you like a human being."

"He can be jealous until he's green in the face, it wouldn't change anything between us, Remus," Gail said, slowly wrapping her arm around Remus', in order to pull him down for a quick kiss. Of course, there wasn't anything quick about it. Lately, they hadn't even been able to kiss without James or Peter whooping like morons.

Remus' kisses were always terribly sweet and gentle, but today he seemed a little more on edge. There was a huge amount of passion in his kisses. Gail didn't really understand why, but she knew that it was quite enjoyable to be wrapped in Remus' love. Time seemed to evaporate around her, along with her everything else. Even the ground seemed to sway under her. When he stopped offering small kisses on Gail's lips, everything came crashing down.

"We'd better go, we're going to be late for class," Remus said hoarsely. His long arms were still wrapped around Gail and all she could think about was kissing his soft lips again. Remus probably noticed this, and looked quite pleased with himself. He eventually released her, but continued to direct Gail down the hall even when she protested slightly.

* * *

Apparition lessons started the weekend after school started up again. Gail was slightly upset over the loss of the next twelve Saturdays. It was strange that the class wasn't put at night, such as Astronomy had been. It was even more strange to be in the Great Hall, which looked like a different room because the missing furniture. There were quite a few hoops placed on the ground separated by a yard or so. There was a few minutes before the class started, so students were milling around aimlessly.

Gail stood next to Lily in the middle of the room. She didn't see the marauders, initially, but they eventually filed in. Lily did her best to ignore their presence, for whatever reason. Gail hadn't had the chance to talk with the redhead about her new stance regarding James Potter. James took over the last hoop next to Gail. Sirius, Jo and Remus were forced to take a spot near the front, beside Avalon and some other Ravenclaws. Gail didn't know what to think about the two boys, whether or not they had an argument. They seemed totally fine.

Gail cast a quick glance around the hall to see that Amber was standing with Jeremy Watson and his friends from Ravenclaw. Gail noticed some other people she recognized from the other houses, but couldn't put names on their faces. She adamantly ignored the Slytherins. Michael Thortin and Kyle Singe, the two boys in her Care of Magical Creatures class, were standing with a few other Hufflepuffs.

"Oye, Gail," James greeted her momentarily, "have you seen that girl- Melanie Ratchet or whatever- lately?"

"No, I haven't. She's not in any of my classes and it looks like she's been avoiding Jo and Lily," Gail responded quietly. She noted that Lily was watching them suspiciously, "why?"

"Well, the map has been showing her as being in the Slytherin Common room more than once," James whispered quietly, making sure that Lily wouldn't be able to overhear it, "we thought you might know why."

"Other than dating Mulciber?" Gail shrugged, not very concerned, "I wouldn't really bother about it. She's been strange ever since she started having arguments with Jo."

"Hmm... strange," James scratched his chin for a moment, "think she might be under then Imperius curse?"

"Wouldn't notice if she was," Gail frowned at the hoop in front of her, "I'll check the next time I see her, okay?"

"Alright," James said quietly, before straightening up and flashing Sirius a cheeky smile and a wink.

When the instructor finally arrived, he looked like he would faint from exhaustion at any moment. Gail never thought she would see a person more pale and shaky than Remus during a full moon, but she had been wrong. This man only seemed to have a faint hint of life keeping him from looking like one of the school ghosts.

"Good morning," the pale man said cheerfully enough after the professors had silenced the students, "my name is Wilkie Twycross and I shall be your Ministry Apparition Instructor for the next twelve weeks. My goal during this time is to prepare you for your Apparition exams at the end of the year."

His name was strange, in Gail's mind, like he had a deliberate speech impediment on the first two Rs of his name, but not the last. Shouldn't it have been Rilkie Trycross?

Clearing his throat, Wilkie Twycross started speaking again, "there's usually a ward on the school that makes apparition impossible, but for this lesson, the ward has only been removed from the Great Hall so that all of you will be able to practice here. Now, I wouldn't suggest that any of you try just yet. First you'll need a deep understanding of the concepts behind Apparition.

"What you need to know are the three Ds. Destination; where you want to go to, Determination; a mindset that you must occupy a certain space, and Deliberation; carefully restrain yourself until the appropriate moment and then move carefully. Let's begin with focusing on the first step," Twycross took a deep breath, "each of you focus on the hoop that is five feet in front of you. That is your destination."

Twycross paused to allow the teenagers to focus on their hoops before he spoke again, "the second step is determination. You must decide that you have no other choice but to occupy the space in front of you... As your determination peaks, you must complete the third step."

It looked like the only laid back student in the Great Hall was Sirius Black, who yawned lazily. Even James was staring at his hoop with conviction. Gail noticed Lily becoming quite red in the face as she glared at her hoop.

"You will attempt step three on my signal," Twycross cleared his throat, "and you will thusly turn on the spot. You must move with deliberation. Now, on my signal... Go!"

Gail felt her stomach drop as she twisted her body. Nothing happened, to her. She was more than capable of keeping her balance, but several people in the hall either fell over and wobbled. It looked like Amber had deliberately jumped over a bit, so that her boyfriend would catch her before she could fall. Gail, though, remained firmly rooted in place. Lily grumbled beside her, nothing had happened to the redhead either.

"That's all right! That was just your first try," Twycross chirped, "keep trying. Some of you are simply not determined enough. Focus on your hoop and will yourself to enter the hoop."

Sirius glanced back over his shoulder, tossing a rather arrogant wave to James before twisting himself and reappearing within the hoop.

"Doesn't count," James said quite loudly to anyone would would listen to him, "he has apparated by himself before... by accident."

No one seemed to be listening to James, though. A roar of applause erupted in the Great Hall for the first student to apparate. Even Twycross jumped down from behind his podium and darted over to Sirius to congratulate the black haired boy for apparating on his first try. It was rather unfair that he could have passed the Apparition exam without even attending the class. Gail assumed he showed up merely to keep James company, if not to show off.

"Show off," Lily hissed under her breath, clearly unhappy about the whole ordeal.

"Keep trying!" Twycross prodded the class after he got back behind his podium, "remember! Destination, determination, deliberation! The three Ds!"

The students kept doing the same thing. It seemed like they had gained better balance by the fifth try, though, because only one or two wobbled that time. Aside from Sirius, no one even managed to splinch themselves until the sixth try. Amber, who had not been trying overly hard the entire class, sobbed loudly. By the time Gail looked over, the the Heads of house had already fixed her with a cloud of perfect smoke.

"She splinched herself pretty badly," Lily hissed, looking only slightly worried, "to leave her scalp behind... Horrific."

"Splinching occurs when there isn't sufficient determination," Twycross explained loudly, doing his best to speak over top of the panicked whispering, "remember the three Ds! Concentrate on your destination as you move without haste, but deliberation."

By their tenth try, a handful of students had successfully apparated into their hoops, splinched or not. It wasn't really a surprise that both Remus and Lily had successfully apparated. Afterwards, Lily looked like she was ready to vomit. Her face was pale and she looked quite queasy. Gail found it hard to sympathize with her, though, since she hadn't felt so much as a nudge.

"Good job, Evans," James said loudly after Lily had successfully apparated. Of course, he hadn't managed to yet, but he didn't seem overly worried.

"I think it was a fluke," Lily mutter anxiously, "I need to practice more..."

"There she goes," Gail sighed as she watched the redhead attempt to apparate again, "maybe you should rest, since you look like you're ready to faint, Lily."

Lily ignored her, but didn't have enough time to attempt it again. Their hour long lesson was over. The ward was quickly replaced on the Great Hall. Lily, flustered by this fact, quickly bid Gail goodbye and rushed back towards the Griffindor common rooms. Gail hadn't caught the redhead's meaning, she was too focused on Remus' approach.

"How do you feel?" Gail asked, worried that Remus would feel as uneasy as Lily.

"Quite well, thanks. I'm used to side-along apparition. It's a lot better when you do it yourself," Remus stated pleasantly.

"Oh~ Aren't you two lovey-dovey today," James grinned at Remus, teasing the boy. It was likely a ploy to make James feel better about being the only one who couldn't apparate in the marauders, aside from Peter.

"Aren't we always?" Remus retorted, slinging an arm over Gail's shoulders. She didn't miss the look he gave to Sirius, who was standing with Jo.

* * *

**Author Note:**

Yes, this story will be quite long, I think. It will cover the seventh year, graduation, and the first wizarding war. I already have a good portion of the war planned out in my head.

Sirius Black! Was he telling the truth or lying? Dun dun dun~

I just uploaded a short chapter to _Time to go!_ about Melanie. Whoohoo, a deleted scene about everyone's least favourite Griffindor. Check it out if you're bored and waiting for the next chapter.

-Rue

* * *

**The Comment Gallery**_  
Host: Gail Forester  
Guest: Flink_

Gail: Welcome to the Comment Gallery! Our guest today is Flink, who hasn't made an appearance in a few chapters!

Flink: Hello Miss Gail. Hello Commentators!

Gail: How have you been, Flinkies?

Flink: Oh! OH! I've been just swell, Miss Gail. Thank you so much for asking!

Gail: It's my pleasure. Would you do the honours and read the first review?

Flink: Yes, of course! Thank you for reviewing, _Angel of Apathy._ I hope your school stresses don't keep you from enjoying life. That would be bad, very very bad!

Gail: I can agree with that. Take it easy, Angel.

-Gail opens the next review, it's longer than most-

Gail: Hey _MaxRideRox_! Who agreed that you get something if James and Lily go out!? If anything, you should be giving ME things. Because I encourage Lily.

Flink: Oh yes. Miss Gail, here is your cake. It's for Christmas.

Gail: Oh, thank you Flink! It's lovely. I'll share it with Remus and Lily when I get back to the common room. Go ahead and read the next letter.

Flink: Okay! _Apocolips_, thanks for reviewing!

Gail: The next review is from a first time reviewer! _Jenea Cappoen_, thank you for reviewing! If you have any questions based on things that don't include the future, I will do my best to answer them! But I'm not good at Divination, so I can't tell you about the future.

Flink: Ahem... _Musik Drache_, thanks for reviewing!

Gail: Oh, another new reviewer. Thank you, _kimmmz_. It is quite long, I'm glad you read up to chapter 39. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story.

Flink: Oh, I have a note from the author with _analogheart828_'s review. It reads: "_Sirius Black's pancake habits were based on my friend, Kater. Yes, there really is someone who eats pancakes that way. She also does the same thing with steak._"

Gail: Che, what about Remus and James?

Flink: It also says that James was based on cartoons of pancake eating, where there's a large stack of pancakes... and Remus was based on how the author used to eat pancakes, with double syrup.

Gail: Oh, I see, I see... Is that all?

Flink: Yes, I believe so!

Gail: That's all the time we have for today. Thanks for reading, see you in the next chapter. Make sure you check out Rue's profile to vote for which characters you _hate_.


	41. Chapter 41

**Chapter 41**

"So here's the problem. We know that something's wrong with Melanie, but we don't know what. At first glance, she appeared to be upset over Jo and Sirius, but I fear that's just the tip of the iceberg."

The person that was being discussed wasn't in the room, but ever other girl in Griffindor, sixth year, was. Avalon and Amber were sitting beside one another on the end of a bed. Jo, seeming uninterested, was actually listening to Gail as she spoke. Lily, though, was another matter. The redhead shot up instantly.

"I thought we had cleared this up already," Lily snapped. She appeared calm on the outside, but Gail knew enough that the redhead was thoroughly peeved, "just because James Potter said he saw her going into the Slytherin common rooms doesn't mean anything. He's just being a nosy git."

"I agree with Lily," Jo stated, looking down her nose at Gail, "Melanie has always been an attention seeker. She's decided that we won't give her the time of day, so she's moved on to leeching off of other people. Who cares if they're Slytherins..."

The only one in the room that didn't share that sentiment, besides Gail, was Avalon. The blonde was furiously shaking her head, "don't say that, Jo. You remember what she was like in our first year. She was kind back then, back when we were all friends. Whatever is happening to her now... Isn't it our job to look out for her?"

When none of the other girls responded to her questions, she stood up and pulled herself up, "what if she IS under the Imperius curse? This might be beyond us; we've been hearing about Death Eaters for ages now. Who's to say that they haven't been controlling people in the school in order to get their nefarious deeds done? I'm not going to sit around and just let them hurt any of my friends."

Amber nodded firmly, "she was my friend too, before she started acting strange. As her friends, it's up to us to make sure everything is fine. Right?"

Gail couldn't help but smile at them. Avalon and Amber had developed as people over the last three years and were no longer the girls that would spend classes whispering about boys. Their maturity helped win both Lily and Jo over. Naturally, Lily was extremely against the dark arts after she had broken her friendship with Severus Snape off. The mention of the Death Eaters was enough to persuade her.

"Then we have to check that she's not under their control, first," Lily huffed slightly, turning to Gail, "well? What do we do?"

"Ask her a few questions that only she would know the answers to," Gail suggested, "that way, we'll know if she's under the Imperius curse."

"Potter tell you how to do that?" Jo snapped mockingly. There was a look of resentment in her eyes, but Gail really couldn't understand why.

"No, Remus told me," Gail responded firmly. "People under the Imperius curse operate with roughly three percent of their brain, they become able to perform tasks that they are given and nothing else. This means, if the person controlling them doesn't will them to answer, then they won't be able to."

Avalon was nodding her head in agreement, "that makes sense. If they're not told to answer "blue" to the question "what colour is the sky?" then they won't be able to answer correctly."

"That's disturbing," Amber grumbled, "what'll we do if we find out she's under the Imperius curse?"

"We'll worry about that if it's true," Lily said calmly, "she should be back soon. Supper is almost over."

"That's if she-" Jo was cut short by Melanie's entrance. The five girls all stared at her incredulously. Somehow, the sweet and somewhat slow blonde had transformed outwardly over the past few days. She no longer wore her house colours, instead she opted for black accessories. This was no more controversial than the layer of makeup on her face. Her lips were covered in thick, red lipstick. Her eyes were smeared in powder. Gail couldn't even name the different kinds of powders and things the blonde was wearing.

"What are all of you staring at?" Melanie tossed a quick glare at them before making an attempt for the bathroom.

"We'd like to have a word with you, Mel," Avalon stopped the girl with a gentle tug on her arm, "we're worried about you."

"It's just makeup," Melanie scoffed at Avalon, before turning to regard the others, "what? It's _just_ some makeup."

"Melanie, I have a question for you and I want you to answer as best as you can," Avalon took the girl's other arm in her hands, "who was the first boy you admitted you had a crush on and what year?"

The blonde simply gaped at Avalon for a moment before her temper seemed to flare. She wouldn't be a Griffindor without one, "you're absolutely batty. There's no way I'm going to say it in front of _them_."

"We really don't care," Lily snapped, "but it's for your best interest if you answer Avalon."

"Why, so you can hang it over my head for the next century? No thank," with that, Melanie tugged both of her arms free from Avalon and made another brilliant attempt for the loo.

"Wait, give me a moment, I'll think of another question," Avalon attempted, but Melanie wasn't hearing any of it.

It was Amber's turn. Calmly, she blocked the door to the bathroom, "just answer my question and I'll let you go, okay? What did you say to me when I was distraught about Gail?"

"You too? Bunch of batty women here," Melanie complained, "you really want me to answer that with Gail still in the room?"

Amber didn't even flinch, and slowly nodded her head, "yes. Repeat it, please."

"I told you that I would help you if you needed anything and that _Fat_ Forester was a slimy, underhanded git," Melanie snapped quickly, "now let me by."

It was strange and somewhat hurtful to Gail to hear those words now. After she had been getting along quite well with the other girls, she hadn't imagined that they would have said something so mean about her, even when they were mad. Luckily, they probably wouldn't ever use that mean nickname of hers again.

Amber stepped aside to let Melanie go about her business. In response to the other four, she shook her head, "that's something only she would know. Sorry, Gail, it looks like she's not under the Imperius curse."

"We've established that she's capable of controlling herself," Gail concluded solemnly, after pushing the personal insult that she had felt out of her mind, "but in no way does that mean that she's a free agent. They might be controlling her through blackmail or something."

"Yes, but how can we prove that?" Lily's brows knitted for a moment, "we don't exactly have a way of checking that they're not harassing her, do we? Short of following her around or something."

"We'll think of something," Avalon said positively, her eyes not leaving the door, "something just isn't right with her. She was never this suspicious towards others in the past..."

* * *

The girls each set about thinking about how to keep track of Avalon without being noticed. Lily had suggested a polyjuice potion, which had been vetoed. None of the girls really wanted to spend the time to make the potion, had the ingredients, or much liked the idea of masquerading as Slytherins to sleuth around. Jo had suggested using a broom to follow her around, but the ridiculous idea had also been vetoed. Amber suggested buying an invisibility cloak, but the good quality ones were quite expensive.

But that last suggestion gave Gail an idea. On the first chance she got, she approached the marauders. James looked at her expectantly. She was in a bit of a hurry, so she threw herself down on the couch in the Griffindor common room, right next to the messy haired youth.

"Gail? What's wrong?" Remus questioned mildly, turning from his game of exploding snap against Sirius. Peter was on the edge of his seat watching the exciting game with fascination.

"Oh, nothing is wrong with me. I just need a bit of a favour from you four," Gail spoke quietly before turning her attention to James, "you see, we found out that she wasn't under the Imperius curse, but we want to make sure she isn't being blackmailed or harassed. Things haven't been great between us, so she might be feeling that she doesn't have anyone to turn to for help."

"We'll check it out," James said confidently, "make sure the Slytherins aren't bothering her... Padfoot, looks like we might get to hex some snake-kissers for the good of the world. Up for it?"

Sirius' head snapped up. He had just ensured that the cards exploded on Remus. With the glee still on his face from winning, he nodded, "if it means a little '_alone_' time with Snivellus, I'd love to. Haven't hexed the git in a while."

"Just make sure you keep an eye on her... I'd better go before Lily starts to worry," Gail sighed, standing up. Without missing a beat, she pulled out a napkin and wiped the smoke residue off of Remus' cheek before planting a quick kiss there.

"See you in a bit," Gail bid farewell to the other boys with a quick nod before heading to charms.

* * *

"Don't worry about it," Gail smiled at Lily, "James won't do anything if Melanie doesn't need help."

"But that means he'll be breaking the rules again," Lily scoffed quietly.

"We were planning on breaking the rules ourselves... Besides, Melanie technically shouldn't be allowed to enter the Slytherin common room. Just think of it as Remus doing his job as a prefect," Gail placated Lily as they sat together in Charms.

Over the last few days, Gail had fallen behind in her charmwork. Of course, it wasn't anything major. With a bit of practice, she would be able to catch up to the others. This was why she pushed the Lily Inquisition out of her mind and attempted to focus. No matter what she did, though, she just couldn't get her statue to dance as nicely as Lily's did.

"How are they going to follow her around, anyway?" Lily asked quietly, her eyes watching Gail's pitiful improved dancing charm.

"Oh, I think at least one of them knows how to use a disillusionment charm," Gail said thoughtfully, keeping her knowledge about their secrets to herself. There was no reason to tell Lily everything at the moment. Luckily, she had picked a rather difficult charm to produce. Lily gave a grudgingly respectful look towards the boys before quickly looking away. Gail couldn't help but laugh when she saw what the marauders had done. Their four statues were dancing in sync with one another. Each one had been charmed to look like Snape but with a large nose. Lily was probably the only one in the class that didn't think it was funny to see the miniature Snapes doing ballet moves.

* * *

Gail had been wrong about the marauders. Instead of keeping a close eye on Melanie, they had resorted to hexing any Slytherin that came within ten yards of her. Not that there was anything wrong with hexing the nasty pureblood supremacists. Unfortunately, the result was quite the opposite from what Gail had intended. Melanie stormed into the girls' dorms with the fury of a tempest on her back.

"Why did you do that?" Melanie shrieked, "you set them on me, didn't you?"

It took Gail a moment to register exactly what the blonde was saying. It still hadn't dawned on her when she spoke, "what?"

"Oh, don't play stupid, you great, big-nosed git," Melanie hissed, "you went to your _boyfriends_ and told them to hex _my_ friends."

Gail's face flushed, "I have one boyfriend, thanks. I don't know what you're talking about."

"Give it up, you cow. You're the only one that could influence them to hound my steps," Melanie glared darkly at her as she paused for a moment, "call them off or else..."

"They were worried about you, you know? In times like these, it's all too easy to get caught in things you don't understand... If I tell them to lay off your friends, do you think you'll have it easy?" Gail pulled herself up and loomed over Melanie. The blonde wasn't overly tall, in fact she was rather tiny, "the marauders will brand you a traitor of Griffindor. You've never been a target for their pranks before. I don't think you'll be able to handle it. Why don't you make it easy on yourself and just pretend like you've been abused by the Slytherins and go on your own way?"

It was quite evident that Melanie loathed Gail, who had never raised a wand against the girl. There wasn't any rational reason that Gail could find for the girl's utter dislike. She was doing her best to make sure that the blonde had an easier time at Hogwarts and was only being turned down at every corner.

"They thought they were being chivalrous by 'helping' you against the Slytherins," Gail commented wryly, ignoring the silent anger coming from the blonde.

"Just keep your large, cow-like nose out of my business, Forester," Melanie finally snapped, swinging around and leaving the room.

All that Gail could think of doing while she was alone in the empty dorm rooms was reach a hand towards her nose. Was it really that big? Melanie insulted it twice in such a short period...

* * *

"Is everything alright?" Remus questioned her while they were standing at the edge of the forbidden forest waiting for Professor Kettleburn to appear. It was a rather brisk day, and the students had taken to wrapping themselves in layers of warm garments.

"Yes, why?" Gail answered, her voice muffled slightly by her gold and red scarf.

"Well, I've never known you to wrap your face up like that before," Remus teased mildly before becoming more serious, "did something happen?"

Her only response was a grumble, which made the astute boy turn to her and repeat his question, "what happened?"

Gail couldn't force herself to look him in the eye as she muttered, "my nose is big."

"What!" Remus' voice was coated shock, as if she had suggested that James had some fairy blood in him, "did someone enlarge it with a spell or something? Let me see, I can fix it."

"No," Gail mumbled, aimlessly kicking at some snow.

"No?" Remus leaned over to examine her closer, "so what's wrong?"

"Stop bugging me," Gail snapped, spinning to walk away from him. All he could do was stare incredulously at her. For the rest of the class, Gail did not say a word to Remus, for fear that he would request for her to remove the scarf again. She felt bad for taking out her insecurities on him, but that didn't stop her from feeling that her nose was awkward looking. In order to avoid any more questions, Gail practically ran back up to the school after placing little Runty back into the warm crate. She was inside before anyone tried talking to her again.

"Gail? Is that you?" Lily caught up to her in one of the smaller entrance halls, "why on earth are you wearing your scarf around your face?"

"Cold," Gail muttered, lying between her teeth. Of course, Lily sensed her anxiety and took hold of Gail's free arm.

"Tell me really why? Are you embarrassed about something?" Lily asked, pulling Gail around the corner and towards a girl's bathroom.

Gail shook her head, "no. I'm just cold. Really, Lily..."

"Yeah, which is why you aren't with Lupin, like you usually are," Lily snapped at her, "you said you wouldn't keep things from me anymore, Gail. Tell me what's wrong."

Gail took a deep breath and tugged the scarf away from her face. It was warm and damp from her breath, "Melanie said my nose was huge twice."

If Lily laughed, Gail wouldn't have known what to do. Luckily, the redhead was no so unsympathetic. There was a tinge of sadness in her beautiful emerald eyes. Lily quickly shook her head, causing her red hair to fly around her shoulders.

"Gail, your nose is perfectly fine. In fact, it's perfectly normal," Lily stated factually, "I think she was just trying to rile you up. Don't mind what she says."

"But..." Gail lifted a hand to her nose yet again. She rubbed the bridge delicately.

"Do you honestly think Black would go out with a girl who had a large nose?" Lily scoffed, "what about Lupin? I don't think he cares one way or another what you look like."

"Was that a compliment?" Gail laughed weakly, "I never thought I would hear you compliment any of the marauders..."

Lily clucked her tongue, "just go ask Remus if he thinks your nose is disproportional with your face. I just know that he'll give you a kiss and tell you that it's perfectly fine."

Remus' chuckle made Gail swing around. He looked very amused at her. Without a word, he approached the dusky haired girl and gave her a quick kiss on her nose.

"There isn't anything wrong with your nose," Remus said quietly, "it's a perfectly cute nose."

"Really?" Gail stared hopefully up at the gentle boy, causing Lily to make an exasperated sound. As soon as Lily's retreating footfalls faded into silence, Remus leaned down and gave Gail quite a sweet kiss. Their sweet moment was soon interrupted by approaching footsteps. For a moment, Gail thought it was just Lily returning, but it wasn't so.

"Look what we have here!" Rosier crooned to his friends. It seemed like the wicked boy had gained quite a few followers, "a blood traitor and a mudblood!"

* * *

**Author Note:**

Gosh, this chapter was done quickly. Here's a bit of a mystery for you: why is Melanie acting differently? Teenage hormones or is it something more? No one would ever snog Mulciber if they were in their sane, right?

Honestly, I'm pumped. Next chapter is going to be a blast to write. Whoohoo!

-Rue

* * *

**The Comment Gallery**_  
Host: Gail Forester  
Guest: Rue [the author]_

Gail: Welcome to the comment Gallery. It looks like Rue had decided to get out from behind her pile of textbooks in order to answer some of your questions.

Rue: Thank you for the introduction. This semester is going to be quite crazy. One of my groups is already planning on getting things done early and everything.

Gail: Wow... I'm glad that no classes at Hogwarts do the stupid group projects or presentations... Ham.

Rue: Ham, indeed.

Gail: Okay, so the first group of reviews are from _Musik Drache _and _kimmmz_. Thank you for the encouragement!

Rue: _Apocolips_! Yes, Remus is becoming more confident around Gail! And he should; he was friends with her for years, and they've been dating for quite a while now.

Gail: My goal is to french kiss him.

Rue: That will be quite awkward for me to write. I have half a mind to write a parody of Sirius teaching Gail how to kiss. Have you ever seen Crybaby, ft. Johnny Depp? Something like that.

Gail: Oh, how embarrassing.

Rue: Imagine how I feel when I'm editing the chapters and one of my friends is reading over my shoulder. She doesn't get it...

Gail: Okay, the next review is from _MaxRideRox_... I should get things because I've told Lily at least once a day, for years, that James Potter is NOT as bad as she thinks. Of course, sometimes I withhold this information, just to punish Potter for not being as lovely as I know he can be...

Rue: I've read stories where Remus is called "Reemy-poo", Remmy or Remmie, Remrem... Undoubtedly, I will never give him such embarrassing nicknames. I like conventional ones, like Dear, Darling, my sweet... Or more humourous ones, like Smudgemuffins or Cuddlecauldron.

Gail: Oh please, there is no way I would ever call Remus "Cuddlecaudron". Never.

Rue: You would be surprised, my dear Gail. Very surprised.

Gail: Okay, the next review is _Sunni_. Hey! Haven't heard from you in a while. Welcome back?

Rue: No computer? AUGH! I would absolutely die without at least one computer. _Siriusly_... I have already spent a good chunk of my life in front of a computer, and I will probably die in front of a computer.

Gail: Muggles and their technology.

Rue: At least I'll die of old age. I mean- what's the chance that you could raise a dragon or whatever and NOT be eaten? You're almost a dead-woman-walking.

Gail: Sick her, Snuffles.

-Padfoot jumps out of the bushes, or something, and commences "puppy kissing" Rue to death-

Gail: I always win. Anyway, the next review is from _Lift the Wings_. I'm not sure. Was Sirius jealous?

-Padfoot leaves, back into his bush-

Rue: Hmm... I think he's jealous of the peaceful and steady relationship that Remus and Gail have. I don't think it has anything to do with Gail as a person, but for those who still think that Gail and Sirius should be together... What can I say? Nothing, really, because it won't change a thing.

Gail: Erm... well, Angel of Apathy! You so do NOT want to apparate!

Rue: Actually, it would be nice. To be able to sleep in until five minutes before class and then POOF... Arrive? That would be so nifty.

Gail: Not to mention feeling sick for a long time afterwards.

Rue: Says the girl who is best at running away.

Gail: Stop trying to give hints to the readers about me. Why don't you spoil something about one of the other characters?

Rue: Oh, let's see... Peter wears cute-animal underwear all the time. To protect their own dignity, James and Sirius have charmed them to appear like normal undies if he were ever "exposed".

-Gail laughs-

Rue: Oh, let's see... I've been thinking about writing a short 5 chapter story from Remus' perspective... But that will probably happen after I've finished this story.

-Gail is still laughing-

Rue: Well, I guess that leave the closing to me. I'm going to go play Lost Odyssey; which is a terribly fun -and slightly depressing- videogame. You will see my next chapter, and Gail, on Monday. Until then, stay healthy.


	42. Chapter 42

**Chapter 42**

Remus stilled for a moment before he reached for his wand. There was a hint of mischief in his light brown eyes. His free hand remained gently on Gail's back, so that she could only feel his palm and the tips of his fingers. For a moment, she didn't know what he was going to do. Rosier sealed his fate by pointing his wand at the two Griffindors, though. Before the Slytherin could even fire his first spell off, Remus hit him with a rather nasty bat bogey hex. The boy's snot formed into a rather large pack of bats and attacked all of the Slytherins.

Before the foul students could recover, Remus gave Gail a gentle push on her lower back, "let's go. They're too slow to know how to get rid of the boogies."

Laughter erupted from Gail's stomach as she ran, guided by Remus' hand. It was likely that the Slytherins wouldn't be able to remove the charm the daring marauder had placed on Rosier, even though it was just a quick counter spell. Rosier would have known the counterspell if he had been the target of any pranks in the past. Severus had only become knowledgeable on removing different harmful spells after being picked on by the marauders for years. The only thing that had prevented Rosier from being targeted by the marauders was the fact that their attention was usually wholly focused on making Snape's existence miserable.

"Uh, Remus, where are we?" Gail asked slowly after a few minutes of running. Remus was quite out of breath by then, but he didn't seem alarmed by the fact that his girlfriend was feeling completely lost.

After he had caught his breath, Remus flashed a knowing smile, "we're just by the Fat Lady's portrait. I took you through a secret hallway. You didn't even notice, did you?"

"Nope," Gail responded, wrapping her arms around Remus' torso. She could hear his heart beating quickly when she rested her head on his shoulder. It was her turn to tease him, "you're really out of shape, aren't you?"

"That's not fair," Remus grumbled, "it's three days before the full moon."

"Ha! Excuses," Gail laughed happily. She started digging her fingers into his sides, tickling him viciously. In response, Remus did his best to pull away from Gail before launching a counter tickling attack. After laughing for a while, Gail could feel her face becoming quite hot and her heart was beating fast. Remus' face was quite red too and his face shone with mirth. He pulled her into one of his big hugs so that she was flush against him. They were so busy flirting with each other that they hadn't noticed the arrival of a guest.

"_Stupefy_," Rosier's voice echoed in Gail's ears. Remus was hit on his side with the malicious red beam and abruptly crumpled to the ground. Gail spun around quickly and wrenched her wand out of her pocket. Angrily, her mind exploded with the incantation to disarm Rosier. It was the first time she had ever been able to cast a non-verbal without practising. It was amazing what anger could do.

"_Rennervate_," Gail said quietly, pointing her wand at Remus while Rosier groped in the hallway for his wand. Remus seemed to twitch back to life, to Gail's relief. Out of the corner of her eye, she noted that the Slytherin had grabbed his wand yet again.

"_Sectumsempra_," Rosier growled as he launched the spell. The spell narrowly missing Remus' limp form, instead it cut Gail's leg open. The wound looked like a sword had sliced at her from the top of her thigh to just below her knee. Gail's own, warm blood trickled down her leg and meshed with her socks. She promptly ignored the stinging pain in her leg and focused on the wicked teenager.

"_Incarcerous cruorem_," Gail flicked her wand at Rosier. Threads of her own blood shot towards Rosier and wound themselves around him as if they were ropes. In seconds, the binding was complete. Gail's blood didn't leave a mark on the boy, but instead made him unable to generate any effective spells against her. He tried, of course, but the curse that Gail had placed on him made his hands shake so much that every spell he launched missed.

"What the... Gail?" Lily called from down the hall. Apparently, she had come to see what had been taking Gail so long to come back to the Griffindor tower, "what's going on here?"

At the sight of yet another Griffindor, Rosier turned on his heels and sprinted off down the hall. Lily seemed highly unconcerned about the Slytherin, as she noticed the steady trickle of blood from the right side of Gail's leg.

"You're bleeding!" Lily stomped forward and brandished her wand, "dueling again? Why is Lupin so... drunk looking?"

"He was hit with a stunning spell," Gail said quietly. Remus just grunted and rubbed his head as if it was in pain. Lily quickly used a non-verbal spell to heal the gash, "but I made sure he won't be able to target me again... He's too stupid to know how to remove a curse like that. I read that it'll take pure remorse to remove it."

"You put a curse on him?" Lily gaped at her, mouth and eyes wide in shock.

"It won't hurt him not to be able to cast dark spells around me," Gail laughed humourlessly, eyes watching Remus rub his head tenderly, "he deserved it, anyway. Look what he did to Remus."

"Thanks," Remus grunted before pulling himself back up, "I should have been more aware that he could still have found us..."

"Don't blame yourself," Gail insisted, taking Remus' hand, "everything turned out fine, thanks to Lily scaring that git away."

Remus still looked like he was ready to beat himself up for allowing the Slytherin to hit him in the back with a spell. It was his pride at being quite good at Defence Against the Dark Arts that prompted his reactions, Gail supposed. More than anything else, he was sore that his girlfriend had done better than him against the enemy, but he didn't realize that he had been protecting Gail, literally, with his body. He probably didn't see it like that, though, that they were lucky... After all, Rosier had been rumoured to have joined the Death Eaters, along with Avery, Snape and Mulciber.

"Oh darling," Gail tenderly wrapped an arm around his shoulders, "you protected me from the stun spell. That was wonderful. You meant to do that, right?"

Shocked, Remus didn't know what to say for a moment. Eventually, his smile broke into a smile, "don't even try that with me, you! I'm not so upset that you have to cheer me up."

"Good," Gail surmised. Lily cleared her throat to prevent them from divulging their love of one another in a series of kisses.

"If you're done, curfew is almost up. Let's go, you two. Before I'm forced to drag Avalon down here to put both of you into detentions," Lily snapped, quickly turning and heading back towards the fat lady's portrait. It swung open and she walked through. Behind her, Gail supported Remus, who was still a little unsteady. Noise erupted around them when they entered the common room. It seemed like James, Sirius and their ever-growing posse had been waiting.

"Gail, Moony! What happened?" James looked stunned, both he and Sirius helped Remus towards the couch. It was heart warming to see the two boys so concerned about one of their friends.

"Rosier jumped us in the hallway when we were busy," Gail stated calmly, ignoring the strange look she was receiving from Sirius. It was always difficult to tell what he was thinking. She had long since given up on trying to figure out why he would glare at her for no reason.

"Be more careful in the future," James scolded both of them. For a minute, he seemed to look quite a bit like his mother. It was strange; even Lily, who had drifted closer to listen to the conversations, looked like she was witnessing a rare event. It was quite apparent that she approved of James' scolding the two students.

"If you're going to snog," James continued, flashing a cheeky smile at Remus, "just come back to the common room..."

That comment earned him a hearty swat from Remus. There was a round of good laughter in the common room. Eventually, Gail was able to pull herself out of the ring of people that had swarmed the marauders. She still didn't much care for crowds, this was why she avoided sitting in busy places, like the common room after curfew and certain places in Hogsmeade.

It was very apparent that James and Sirius enjoyed the crowd, though. Being swarmed by avid admirers only served to boost their egos. From what Gail could see, it looked like James and Sirius had set up a little tutoring business; selling their advice on homework and papers for a certain price. It was strange to see everyone, from first to seventh years, approach the boys with questions. It looked like there were three rates that the boys were charging for their expertise. Most of the first years only had to pay about five knuts. The older students paid anywhere from 10 sickles to a galleon.

"It's terrible what they're doing," Lily commented hotly, "charging hardworking students for help... Have they no shame?"

"I think it's a good idea," Gail smiled fondly at Lily's normal stick-in-the-mud attitude, "they're really quite good. I heard that one of the first years, Mildred or something, usually fails everything. After getting help on a paper of hers, she ended up with a ninety nine. They're effective."

"But-" Lily grumbled and Gail just responded with a quiet laugh.

"So what if we get more house points. If this is what it takes to get some people to learn, so what?" Gail paused for a moment, "besides, it's about time that James and Sirius use their collective brain power for something good."

Lily was speechless for a moment, before she protested weakly, "but what are they using the money for?"

"They've started a 'problem' fund," Remus explained, standing directly behind the two girls. Gail would have jumped out of her skin if he hadn't placed his hands on her shoulders.

"A what?" Lily turned to regard Remus with a stern look.

"A fund to help people with problems," Remus explained, "you know, those that can't afford things like school supplies and new robes."

Lily went completely red in the face. In a huff, she turned and left the common room. Gail knew that the redhead wouldn't bring the subject up again, now that she knew it was for the good of someone else besides greed. Perhaps she found another reason to think that James Potter wasn't _so_ bad.

"Did something happen?" Gail turned around to take notice of the tense smile on Remus' face, "what's wrong, darling?"

"It's nothing, my parents are just running a little low on money this year and- er..." Remus' voice trailed off, signifying that he didn't really want to talk about it. Of course, Gail hadn't noticed or cared that his robes were a few years old. The sleeves were quite short on his robes and the hem hovered around his calves. For a moment, Gail could almost understand the hardships that Remus had lived through. It was quite possible that the school had funded much of his expenses. It was really no wonder that he was so loyal to Dumbledore and the school.

"Don't worry about it," Gail patted his arm, "maybe I should offer to help tutor others in Care of Magical creatures... Hmm..."

"I wouldn't dream of letting you do that," Remus scoffed at her, "please leave my pride intact..."

"No, I plan on firmly destroying all parts of your pride today," Gail joked, "I have to finish my Defence Against the Dark Arts paper, help me?"

"Will I be rewarded?" Remus leaned over. He offered her a quick kiss after seeing that Peter was busy recording a list of students that were requesting help, and the other two trouble makers were busy helping others complete various assignments.

"Of course," Gail laughed jovially as she pulled her bag off of her shoulder and fished around for her quill and paper.

* * *

A month passed with no news. Even the Prophet stopped reporting Death Eater attacks, for some reason. The paper even stopped reporting on the hunt to capture those that were responsible for many wizarding deaths. It was no longer an accurate representation of the outside world, in Gail's view, and had probably been taken over by some dark wizard.

On the other hand, Hogwarts seemed to take on an eerie peace for a month. Things with Melanie seemed to calm down, as well. James had said that she hadn't been into the Slytherin common room in the past few weeks. It was apparent that Mulciber had broken up with her after deciding that she was too much trouble, likely because of the marauders. This resulted in Gail being at the receiving end of glares, whispered insults, pinches, trips, and a bunch of other nasty ways of Melanie expressing her dislike. She didn't try anything worse than that, though, because Remus or Lily usually kept her company, if not the rest of the marauders. The last thing she wanted was to be the target of the marauder's pranks. Melanie was extremely easy to ignore, but the more Gail ignored her, the more flustered the blonde became. It almost seemed like she had lost all sense. Several times, Melanie had even resorted to "stalking" Gail between classes.

All of this was pushed out of Gail's mind after yet another failed apparition lesson. Lily had finally succeeded in apparating for a second time. James had done it for his first time, as well. Remus had successfully apparated on their second class. Gail on the other hand, had gone no where. The whole lesson seemed very futile to her. She was starting to panic because of not even being able to splinch herself. She wasn't the only one, either. There were quite a few other students who had started calling instructor Twycross horrible names, like dung-brains, because of their own inability.

Muttering to herself about the horribly vague instructing methods of the apparating lessons, Gail found that she was alone. It was nice to be alone once in a while. She needed to sort some things out of her mind before she headed back to the Griffindor tower. Of course, she only walked down the hallways that the Slytherins wouldn't take. Few people would actually walk down Sir Cadogan's hallway. It seemed that where ever his portrait was hung, students started to avoid. Gail didn't mind the clumsy knight, though. She rather liked his short, fat pony.

"HALT!" Cadogan shouted at her as she passed his portrait. She was deep in thought until his harsh voice snapped her out of it. Turning, she regarded the man in tin armour as he hollered for a duel between himself and Gail. There were dark swirls in the portrait that seemed stronger than the other portraits near him. This was likely the result of a painter who had overdone it with the spell and created a portrait that was too energetic to the point of being annoying. Cadogan seemed to almost float on top of the traces of a spirit.

"You do know that your armour doesn't protect you from spells, right?" Gail asked lazily when the knight had run out of breath.

Cadogan seemed to straighten for a moment and turn a steely look to Gail, "you must duel with a sword! How else would it be fair?"

"I've never used a sword, though," Gail quipped, "that's hardly fair."

"Ah, but I can tell that you would be good at it! I will teach you," Cadogan shouted, "quickly now... take the sword from that walking piece of sheet metal... HO THERE FRIEND! ALLOW THE LADY TO BORROW IT."

Gail approached the suit of armour, who reluctantly relinquished his grip on the sword. If the suit was capable of facial expressions, Gail supposed that it would show sympathy for her. It was unnecessary, though. Sir Cadogan was quite fun to converse with. He might be batty, but at least he had something to say.

With her hand wrapped around the hilt of the surprisingly light sword, Gail turned to Cadogan, "so what now?"

"Swing it!" Cadogan cried, "as if to strike an enemy."

Gritting her teeth, Gail swung the sword out in front of her with one hand before turning to stare at Cadogan expectantly. He seemed to be critiquing her, though, so it took a moment for him to speak.

"You have to put more effort into it," Cadogan hollered. Gail was amused to note that the other portraits had all left their frames from annoyance, "take a swing at that tin can there. You won't be able to hurt him."

Gail turned to the suit of armour again. Seeing that it had accepted the duty that the knight had given it, it stood ready to intercept her attack. On the suit's queue, Gail swung the sword as quickly as she could, aiming for its left arm. Easily, the suit parried the blow and Gail reversed the blade and swung at the suits' legs. The sword clang as it came into contact with metal. Even when Sir Cadogan sung his praises for her, there was a shout coming from down the hall. It sounded somewhat like Slughorn.

"Looks like it's time for me to go," Gail said quickly, handing the sword back to the suit of armour with a nod, "before I get in trouble for using a sword..."

"Come back soon, fair stable maiden," Cadogan mounted his horse dramatically, "I will teach you how to defend yourself."

* * *

**Author Note:**

Yes, I ended up "making" another spell: _Incarcerous cruorem_. It means "imprisoned because of blood." So if you follow this, Rosier can't cast any spells against Gail because he has caused her to bleed. He has to take responsibility for his actions, you know.

-_Incarcerous_ is actually a spell in the books, it causes ropes to tie someone up. [Used by Umbridge against the centaurs and -possibly- Remus on Severus, .]

Also, if you're interested, I'll convert the prices to actual currency... Sirius and James would be charging about $0.50 for an easy question and $5.00 to $8.80 for a harder question, in Canadian dollars. In US currency, it would be a few cents less and about $8.20 for a hard problem. I probably wouldn't get them to help me if I was a seventh year, too expensive.

I meant to put Cadogan in before now, but this is the first chapter that I've had the space to write him in.

-Rue

* * *

**The Comment Gallery**  
_Host: Gail Forester  
Guests: Sirius Black, Jo Thestile_

Gail: Welcome to the Comment Gallery. Jo and Sirius are here to annoy me.

-There is a slurping sound in the background, Gail looks like she's going to vomit-

Gail: As you can see, they're snogging. Oh, look, Sirius is using his tongue.

-Sirius pulls away and glares at Gail-

Gail: Finally. I was about to start throwing things at you two.

Jo: -mumbles something-

Sirius: Hurry up and get on with it then, Forester. You're wasting my time when I have better things to do.

-Sirius' hand is noticeably located on Jo's rump-

Gail: Oh... kay. The first review is from _MaxRideRox_. Whoa, I can almost imagine you with a L/J flag flying behind you. That's not creepy... But honestly, you _like_ Sirius? The way Rue portrays him?

-Gail makes a gagging noise-

Sirius: HEY! Leave my fan alone, or I'll hex you.

Jo: -breathlessly- Oh, Siri... I'm your number one, right?

Gail: While you're in the room.

-Jo glares at Gail-

Sirius: Girls, girls... Calm DOWN!

Gail: Why don't we talk about Melanie?

Jo: Don't like her.

Sirius: Really don't like her. _Siriusly_.

Gail: Whatever you say, Snufflemuffins.

-Sirius glares at Gail-

Jo: I'm going to read the next review. _Musik Drache_. We're continuing as fast as we can!

Gail: _Apocolips_, you think my nose is funny?

-Gail rubs nose-

Jo: Maybe she thought Lily's exasperated sounds were funny. It's disgusting when you're so clingy to Lupin.

Gail: Like you can talk. Need a bucket for your Sirius-Drool?

-Jo glares at Gail, again-

Gail: They can't win against me, you know. I'm the protagonist.

Sirius: Some protagonists die...

Gail: Point taken. Okay, next two reviews are from _Nightelfgirl_. I hope you continue reading. Please notify us if it seems like any of the characters become too perfect. Haha~

Jo: Lily really isn't all that bad. I mean, she is quite controlling and bossy, but she usually means well.

Sirius: Don't know why Prongs fancies her. You're prettier.

Gail/Jo: Who's prettier.

Sirius: -reluctantly- ....Jo....

-Jo laughs-

Gail: The next review is from _Fred-Weasley-Isn't-Dead_. That is a long one, isn't it! Isn't everyone jealous of Remus?

-Jo sobs a little-

Sirius: Shaddup. You're so nosey.

Gail: Er... Oh yeah, who says that Peter isn't already "bad"?

Sirius: Peter isn't bad, he's... slow.

Gail: OH MY... Sirius! SIRIUS! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? BEING DECENTLY NICE?

Jo: He's always nice?

Sirius: YEAH! Always.

Gail: -mumbles- He's always the one calling Peter "stupid, git, moron, idiot...."

Sirius: Enough... the next review is from _Sunni_. Cursed necklace... we should check that.

Gail: Nah, that would be such a direct rip off of the books.

Jo: Siriusly.

Gail: Enough with that pun. It's just _not_ funny.

Sirius/Jo: Is too.

-Gail sighs-

Gail: The last review is from _kwandral_. Thanks for reviewing. I'm glad you like the story. I think I would have to agree with your opinion about love. Personal happiness put aside for someone else is very romantic, but I don't think Sirius understands that.

Sirius: Love is holding onto someone even if they don't want to be near you.

Jo: Love is patience.

-Sirius and Jo look like they're ready to duel over it-

Gail: Well, that's all the reviews for now. I'm going to go before Sirius and Jo start having an argument. If you're bored before Friday, the character hating poll is still up in Rue's profile. See you next chapter!


	43. Chapter 43

**Chapter 42**

"Have you seen my notes?"

Amber had been frantically looking around the girls' dorms for whatever she was missing. There had been a string of disappearances over the last two months, occurring in frequent intervals. Different objects would seemingly disappear from the dorms only to reappear a few days later. It happened to all of the girls, some more than others. It looked like Lily and Jo were hit the hardest and most frequently by the thief. It became such a daily occurrence that the girls didn't even bother themselves over it. Lily even started carrying her important things around with her.

"You can borrow mine," Lily offered a set of notes, which she had easily duplicated with a spell. Gratefully, Amber took the notes.

Wordlessly, the girls all knew who the thief was. The only one unaffected by the disappearing items was Melanie. There was absolutely no doubt in Gail's mind that if she summoned Amber's notes, they would have been hidden somewhere in the dorm, possibly under Melanie's bed or in her trunk. There was also a chance that the blonde would have deviously hidden the notes in attempt to frame someone else. Melanie probably meant to frame Gail, but she wasn't ever given the chance to do so. Gail had taken to checking under her bed, pillow and in her trunk for the missing items.

Girls could be quite cruel. Both Avalon and Amber, annoyed by the fact that their things had also been stolen or moved, stopped talking with Melanie completely. They seemed to be taking Gail's side, convinced that she had not stolen anything. This didn't seem to bother Melanie at all, though. She had become even darker over the last few months and had pointedly ignored all attempts at conversation by the other girls. Faintly, Gail was reminded of Severus Snape, who seemingly had no real friends.

The missing things were the least of Gail's worries though. There was endless studying to be done, and a stream of constant papers and reports. Nearly every class, McGonagall assigned yet another Transfiguration paper. In Care of Magical Creatures, they had been given two more creatures to raise, as well as their nifflers. The class, along with Herbology, were still a lot less work than the others. Defence Against the Dark Arts and Charms were more laid back than Transfiguration, but still forced the students into constantly practising their new spells. Between all of this, Gail still had to worry about the apparition lessons. She still had been completely unable to apparate.

Because of all of the class work, Gail had found it increasingly hard to study up on the animagus notes that she had borrowed from the marauders. There were a few days where she only got three or four hours of sleep after being unable to put the notes away. She was roughly five pages away from being completely studied up on the subject. Over the weekend, she planned to finish memorizing a few more pages. It was going well enough that Saturday morning before their second last apparition lesson...

"Geez Gail, why are you studying that textbook so thoroughly? Our exams aren't for a few weeks," Avalon stared over at the tawny haired girl through her spectacles.

"What's so interesting about Transfiguration that you've always got your nose in that thing? I swear I haven't seen you so much as look at Remus in the past month," Amber continued off from where her friend had left with a similar inquiring look on her face.

"Broke up?" Lily asked hopefully. Recently, the redhead had become more quiet, especially around James. She still seemed determined not to appear even remotely interested in the messy haired boy. It was obviously an act, though, because Gail caught the redhead staring, subconsciously or not, at a certain marauder. James seemed to remain unaware of Lily's interests though, likely because Lily was always careful to avoid eye contact. It was highly possibly that the red pigment that appeared in her cheeks was not from anger anymore.

"No," Gail mumbled, not lifting her dark eyes from the page, "I just don't want to fall behind in Transfiguration. That's all. Remus understands; he's far more busy that me because he has three more courses than me... or was it four?"

"You should do something romantic for him," Amber squeaked. She was ignored by Gail, who was busy re-reading a few lines, "wear sexy lingerie to deliver him some chocolate or something."

That caught Gail's attention. Quickly, her head snapped up so that she could glare at Amber. Before she could even open her mouth to protest the blonde's plan, laughter erupted from Lily and Jo. The two girls were doubled over and laughing quite hard. Eventually, tears streamed down Jo's face from laughing so hard.

"It's not that funny," Gail frowned darkly at the two girls.

"Sexy... Lingerie..." Jo gasped, pointing at Gail before slapping her knee.

Gail was really thinking about hexing Jo's hair off at that moment. Lily stopped laughing well before Jo. The redhead straightened herself and wiped her eyes quickly.

"Sorry, Gail, but you're the last person that would dress up in lingerie for a boy," Lily croaked, her voice still cracking because of the laughter.

"Coming from Lily, who hasn't even snogged a guy," Amber rolled her eyes, "pretty sure even Jo has gone further than you, Evans."

Jo stopped laughing at that, "hey, I only let Sirius touch the outside. Got it? I'm not loose like some people..."

That image disturbed Gail a bit. She really didn't want to picture Sirius groping Jo, so she forced her mind back into the animagus notes. It was hard to concentrate with the girls talking about such things like 'the third hoop' or whatever they called it. Gail really didn't care about such things and Remus had never expressed any interest in having a more physical relationship.

"Did it hurt, Amber?" Jo asked honestly, her dark eyes searching the blonde's face like she was intrigued.

"It was mildly uncomfortable for a few minutes... But it was over pretty quickly, since we were both virgins," Amber stated calmly.

Lily rolled her eyes, "honestly, Jo, I'm sure you could have found that information elsewhere."

Jo just rolled her eyes sarcastically, "like I would run to the library to get that kind of book... That's too embarrassing... Besides, I bet Madam Pince keeps all of those books to herself. Lord knows it's the only action she'll get in this century."

"Really? I always thought she was secretly seeing Professor Kettleburn," Avalon quipped with a sarcastic smile on her face. She had been quiet through much of the conversation. The whole ordeal with Melanie had seemed to cause her some anxiety.

What Avalon was saying was ridiculous, though. The two adults couldn't be more different. Gail highly doubted that Professor Kettleburn had ever opened a book in his life, let alone treat the thing with care and delicacy. It was highly likely that at least one of his old wounds was caused by Pince for the mistreatment of a book.

"Oye, Gail!" Amber plopped herself down next to the dusky haired girl. Before the blonde could read over her shoulder, Gail snapped the notes closed.

"Yes?"

"Is that book more interesting than my love life?" Amber pouted, playfully resting her chin on Gail's shoulder.

Of course it was, but Gail wouldn't ever say that. Instead, she turned her dark gaze to the blonde's face and smiled faintly, "when you talk about nothing but snogging your boyfriend..."

"That's not true," Amber protested, "we talked about... mrmph."

Luckily for Gail, Lily had charmed a sock to fly straight into Amber's mouth. With a look of superiority on her face, Lily scolded the blonde, "that's enough. Can't you see that Gail is uncomfortable because of you talking about you-know-what?"

"Eh?" Amber made a sound around the sock. It was a few seconds before she could pull the thing out of her mouth, "I thought... Gail, aren't you interested in doing that with Remus?"

"Should I be?" Somehow they were back to talking about Remus again. Out of nowhere, a longing to see him struck her. Of course, he was probably still asleep in his dorm... It felt like ages since she'd seen his sweet smile...

"You're not normal, I swear," Amber laughed, pushing Gail away playfully, "oh well, I'm always here in case you need 'the talk'."

"Thanks," sarcastically, Gail nodded her head at the blonde before standing up, "I'll see you guys later."

Quickly, Gail left the girls' dorm and headed down the stairs. It seemed like no one noticed when she headed back up the stairs to the boys dorms. She passed several doors that were marked with numbers, each one seemed slightly larger than the other. She finally stopped outside the sixth door. There was a large, golden six embedded on the door. It was quite a bit larger than the other numbers had been. Undoubtedly, the marauders had a hand in enlarging the number, for whatever reason. The other, younger students had probably tried and failed to reproduce the same effect.

Quickly, Gail knocked on the door and waited. There seemed to be a groan before the door swung open. A very tired, grumpy looking Sirius Black answered.

"Gail? What the..."

"I need a place to study," Gail fibbed as casually as she could, sliding past Sirius. It didn't escape her notice that Sirius was wearing his pyjamas, "the girls in my dorm are far too nosey."

It looked like the other three boys were asleep. Undisturbed, Gail surveyed the room. It was as messy as she expected, but it seemed like there was much more space for the clutter to be spread out. The room was roughly the same as the girls' room, but with less beds.

"You're lucky Wormtail doesn't sleep in the buff anymore," Sirius commented dryly, shuffling towards the bathroom, "sit wherever you want. I'll be in the tub."

Normally, Gail would have no qualms about sitting on Sirius' unoccupied bed, but after hearing about him and Jo, it was the last place she would sit. Instead, she found a piece of the floor where there seemed to be less mess. Easily, she moved the pile of debris and plopped herself down. Within moments, she was quickly reading the notes again. Faintly, she heard the sound of running water mixing with the deep breathing from the James and Remus. Peter's snoring made all of the other sounds disappear.

"Mmmah," James' voice drifted out as he grunted in his sleep, "L-evans... Love... No. NO!"

Gail watched as James thrashed wildly, half awake. From her position, she saw James sit up for a moment and look around. It seemed like a nightmare had awakened him, and she could only guess what it was about. It had to be something truly horrific. For a moment, Gail was slightly startled. She hadn't ever seen James without his round-lensed glasses on. The transformation to his face was brilliant. His face had become more lean over the years and radiated warmth, just like his father's. With his face contorted with sleepiness he wasn't all that great to look at, but by Gail's estimation he was as easy on the eyes as Sirius.

"Mornin' James," Gail piped up cheerfully. Blearily, he looked over at Gail. His only response was an uncharacteristic grunt. He then plopped his head back onto the pillow and rolled over.

After half an hour, Sirius finally emerged from the bathroom with his hair dried and falling perfectly around his face. Of course, Gail didn't take the time to examine him. She had powered through a page of the notes, and was currently memorizing it. Any effort Sirius had put into his appearance was totally wasted on her.

"They're still not awake?" Sirius questioned, peering at the notes over her shoulder, "oh, you're almost done. We'll have to set things up for you soon."

"Things? What things?" Gail turned her gaze to Sirius' determined face as she spoke softly. She did not want to wake the boys up, especially when Remus looked like he was having a good dream.

"Well, first of all we'll have to borrow a classroom... or possibly the room of requirements," Sirius scratched his chin, "and then we'll have to put a few charms on the room to make sure no one can enter it and make sure the spells we use don't get detected at the ministry..."

Sirius started explaining the various procedures they needed to do before Gail could even attempt to transfigure herself into an animal. A variety of charms were needed in case a mistake was made by Gail. They would be able to help her out if she could only partially transfigure herself, instead of sending her to the hospital wing. In any case, it sounded like the marauders had discovered the room of requirements after learning how to become animagi. They didn't have the additional security of the room back in their third year.

"Too loud," Remus grunted, rolling over to peer over the side of his bed. He was a bit of a monster in the morning, it was obvious that he didn't like being awakened by the sound of Sirius' voice.

"Sorry, Remus," Gail apologized. He finally noticed that she was sitting between two piles of clothes. A look of mirth crossed his face at the sight. Gail had been using one of the medium sized piles of clothes to prop the notes against, to take the strain off of her back. An annoyed sound came from Sirius, but was ignored by both Remus and Gail. Sulkily, Sirius threw himself onto James' bed and immediately began to pester the sleeping boy.

"Never thought you would enjoy sitting in a pile of Peter's dirty clothes," Remus laughed at his own harmless joke before throwing his legs over the side of the bed. He was clothed in a pair of light blue pyjamas.

Gail had suspected that she was sitting in a pile of Peter's clothes. For one, there was quite an odour that frequently drifted around the chubby boy. There was also less of a selection of clothes; Peter was not stupid enough to leave his underwear laying around. She could imagine what James and Sirius would do if they found a pair. Of course, the duo didn't have any scruples about leaving their own underwear around. Gail momentarily thought about nicking a pair of James' for Lily...

"I thought I smelt something..." Gail commented, closing the book and standing up. It had been a while since she had been able to spend time with Remus. She noted the strained look on his face; stress or fatigue had taken a lot out of him. It must have been hard to keep up in his classes while struggling against his monthly affliction.

"Ew, don't come near me!" Remus joked, prodding Gail's stomach with a finger. He effectively stopped her approaching hug, "you smell like Wormy's unwashed clothes."

"Then I'll just have to roll on your bed until I smell like you," Gail snapped sarcastically, folding her arms in front of her.

"That's a great idea," Remus attempted to pull her into a hug to show that he was just teasing, but Gail's mood had evaporated quickly. Her moodiness wasn't helped any by her monthly friend. Without a word, Gail plucked up the animagus notes and headed for the door of the boy's dorms. It took considerable effort on her part to wrench the door open when there was a pile of junk behind it.

* * *

Sunday rolled around, and Gail was still completely unable to apparate, even though there was only one more lesson before the exam. Her mood was had degenerated quite a bit more after Saturday morning. All she could do to improve her mood was sit alone in the library while she read the notes. As the hours drifted by, she found herself reading and re-reading the last line on the three hundred and fifth page.

"Congratulations, you are ready to perform the next step," Gail read the last line out loud, ignoring the glares she was receiving from Madam Pince. It took a moment for her to realize whose writing it was. It was different than the rest of the writing on the page. Undoubtedly, it was a message meant for just her. Standing up, Gail left the library and almost started jogging down the hallway to get back to the Griffindor tower quicker.

"Whoa there!" Gail almost tripped over someone who was her height as she ran into the portrait hole. Thankfully, he easily stopped Gail from falling on her face her. When she focused, she noticed James grinning stupidly at her, "oye Gail... What's the hurry."

"Where's Remus?" Gail pulled herself up to full height and stared cooly at James, ignoring his smug look. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of being thanked.

"Oh~ Grouchy. He's somewhere..." His eyes drifted to the notes, "you finished?"

"Yes," Gail responded shortly, watching the humorous smile widen on James' face.

"Good, we've just finished setting up. Walk with me... I'll take you to the room," he quickly lead the way down the stairs that lead to the tower. Tentatively, Gail followed the messy haired boy. Every once in a while, James would throw an expectant look over his shoulder. Eventually, he stopped in front of one of the abandoned classrooms. Thick dust coated the knob on the door, but judging from the ease of how the door opened, the room was not quite abandoned. As she passed the door, she noticed the the dust had been charmed into place with a permanent sticking charm.

Surprisingly, the classroom was lit with many dancing lights. There were several charms listed and checked off on the chalkboard. Staring at her as she entered, the three other marauders gave her welcoming looks. Gail's feet moved, leaving her brain hanging at the door. As she walked past Sirius, she handed the notes back to him. An instant later, she had her arms wrapped around Remus. Gail was quite thankful that he'd forgiven her for being a moody git the previous day.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Remus asked, his breath drifting over the top of Gail's head. Resolutely, Gail nodded. There was no way that she had gone through the effort of memorizing all of the tiny details that the boys had recorded and not go through with the third step.

"Let's begin then," Sirius' voice answered her. His voice sounded somewhat tense. The edge of his voice was cutting and made Gail release her grip on Remus.

"Yes," Gail agreed again with a faint smile, "this won't hurt, right?"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

I'm looking forward to the next chapter. Oh yes. I've been waiting for this chapter for a long time.

I have a quick trivia question for you lovely readers!

Do you remember what Gail's animagus is going to be?

-Rue

* * *

**The Comment Gallery**_  
Host: The Marauders._

Prongs: Welcome to the comment gallery. Gail's busy trying to remember how to apparate. Somehow, I don't think she's going to pass the exam, do you?

Padfoot: No way. She's going to fail.

Moony: That's not true. She'll pass if she works hard.

Wormy: -pointedly- She'll fail. More worried about becoming an animagus.

Prongs: hehe... So the first review is from Musik Drache. Thanks for reviewing.

Moony: The second review is from MaxRideRox. Yes, Paddy is obnoxious, isn't he?

Padfoot: Am not. You're just as bad as Gail. She was smearing my name, too.

Wormy: He certainly is a badboy, isn't he?

Prongs: Yeah yeah. We have to hurry this along.

_Rue: I guess our types of humour are different, Apocolips! I really didn't mean for it to be funny... Well, Remus' pride was meant to be funny, but I thought Cadogan would get more laughs than the rest._

Padfoot: Whoa, what was that? A ghost?

-Wormtail is scared-

Prongs: Who knows... a voice in the from nowhere? Spooky.

Rue: I am the terror that flaps in the night.

Moony:. . . Okay, the next review is from LoveIntheMist64. Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad that Gail is my soulmate. -starry eyes-

Rue: Hey, don't ignore me! I created you! I AM YOUR FATHER...

Padfoot: My father is a jerk.

Prongs: My dad's a wizard.

Wormtail: My dad is my mom...?

Moony: -ignores- The last review is from Fred-Weasley-Isn't-Dead. Don't worry! I survived. But... Fred Weasley! You must go back to your time! It's not safe here.

Padfoot: Snufflemuffins? -glare- Oh, I guess the next review is mine... Hardly An Answer, I don't have the hots for that chit.

Wormtail: Do too.

Padfoot: -glare- Do. Not.

Prongs: Well, that's all the time we have. Sixth year! AUGH. Drain on my time.

Moony: Can we go see Gail now?

Prongs: Fine. Fine...


	44. Chapter 44

**Chapter 44**

"Hurt?" Sirius laughed mechanically, but his eyes showed that he wasn't making a joke, "if a little pain scares you away, then you can leave right now."

Defiantly, Gail stared at the dark haired teen. There was no way she was going to leave the room before she had successfully become an animagus. Not even a pack of angry dragons would stop her at that moment.

"If you can't stand to see me in a bit of pain, then maybe _you_ should leave," Gail snapped at Sirius, glowering back at him.

"Enough you two," Remus put a stop to their tiny spat, "we have to get started before nightfall."

James nodded affirming Remus' statement, "Wormtail, you set up the candles. Padfoot and I will set up the last few charms... Moony, you instruct Gail..."

With that, the three marauders went about their business. Gail really didn't pay too much attention. It was quite nice of them to help her, though, or else she would have spent hours attempting and probably failing, to transform.

"Sit over in that chair," Remus guided Gail into the middle of the abandoned classroom. It looked like the tables and all but one chair had been cleared away. The main transfiguration diagram had been drawn in bright, white chalk around the lone chair. When Gail took her spot, Remus stood in front of her with a soft smile on his face. A painful feeling squeezed Gail's chest. While she was busy she hadn't noticed it, but it was obvious that she had missed him. There wasn't anything remotely poetic about it; Gail's life was easier when she was with Remus.

"Your job is to concentrate on the diagram that we've drawn on the ground. If you notice, it incorporates all of the different aspects that you've been studying," Remus explained. For a moment, he was distracted by Peter, who was placing and lighting candles around the diagram. Gail hoped they were the slow burning kind.

"Anyway..." Remus continued, his eyes drifting back to Gail after Peter moved away, "your job is to will your body to take the shape of your patronus while concentrating on the laws of Transfiguration... Do you remember what your patronus is?"

"Yes," Gail smiled faintly, pulling out her wand, "_expecto patronum_."

The small, silvery bird shot out of her wand. A trail of silver drifted behind it in the air. A faint chirping noise floated through the room, sending a chill down Gail's spine. The bird did a slow circle above their heads before disappearing. For a moment, Gail was struck by how tiny and frail her patronus was. There was a certain melancholy about the bird, like it knew that its summoner wasn't in a purely happy state of mind.

Remus returned Gail's smile with a bright one. He didn't say a word, but Gail figured he had to be thinking about something in that great big head of his.

Whatever James and Sirius were supposed to be doing, Gail noticed that they had been missing from the room for a good fifteen minutes. When they finally re-entered the dusty classroom, Sirius looked quite red in the face. James shot him scrupulous looks while they walked over.

"All set?" James asked, attempting to sound cheerful. It was quite obvious that he had a small row with Sirius, who was refusing to look at either Remus or Gail.

"That's enough James..." Gail's own voice strained with concern. She had a horribly guilty feeling in her stomach. Subconsciously, she knew that she was the cause of their fight. Struggling, Gail turned her dark eyes to Sirius and questioned the moody boy directly, "Sirius Black, what's going on?"

Sirius' head snapped up. It was obvious that he disliked being called by his full name by the moody look he was giving to Gail, "not sure I know what you mean."

"Suit yourself," Gail stood up and brushed herself off casually. She did her best to hide the pain from her voice, "I'll just leave until you're ready to talk..."

"You're batty," Sirius growled blocking her path, "_we_ went through all the trouble to set everything up. You're not going anywhere."

"Might as well," Gail huffed, "I can't focus with you glowering at me all the time. If you want to waste everyone's time, fine. We can sit here for hours. Or you could tell me what's eating you alive from the inside."

Sirius' mouth dropped open. It was a first that he had been speechless. Whether by guilt or annoyance, it seemed like his voice wouldn't work.

"Should I just ask Remus why you've been acting up? Or maybe James?" Gail asked quietly, "I know it has something to do with me."

"Jo said something?" Sirius questioned stiffly.

"I heard her in the hall," Gail confirmed, "when she was pestering you about me."

At the downcast look on Sirius' face, Gail could tell that he finally understood everything, "so that's why Remus... And James too... Thanks you two, couldn't tell me straight, huh? I had to find out from Gail that you two were listening in on my conversations."

"Sorry mate, didn't want to embarrass you," James frowned, a crease between his eyebrows, "since it was Moony and Gail who overheard it."

Remus looked very apologetic, "listen Sirius... I know you liked and may very well still fancy her but..."

"I don't," Sirius interjected himself, staring at Remus peculiarly, "Jo just thinks I do... Have a little faith in me. I wouldn't try to take her back... Why do you think I've been avoiding her since you two started dating? I didn't want to give you the wrong impression. Our friendship is worth more than a few girls, isn't it."

"You're right," Remus agreed, shaking his head slowly, "I'm sorry Padfoot I..."

Sirius pulled Remus into a quick, brotherly hug. Of course, they both looked a little bit embarrassed when they stepped away from each other. Remus looked a little bit miffed about being hugged out of the blue, in front of Gail no less.

Gail found it quite ridiculous that she was being ignored while they were talking about her. She understood how Peter felt. It must be horrible to be ignored all the time.

"I suppose no one has ever told you that you shouldn't snog in the hallway," Gail quipped, "it's disgusting."

"Disgusting?" Sirius swivelled on her, "it wasn't so gross when I kissed _you_, was it?"

Gail ignored the strained look on Remus' face for a moment while she shut Sirius down completely, "we never kissed like that. You know what I mean, you big git. You two made sounds like a mop being slid across a squeaky floor. It's gross."

Sirius seemed to think about it for a moment, before his haughty face finally broke into a boyish grin, "that's just how _talent_ sounds... Anyway, I think we need to have a bit of a private talk, if you know what I mean..."

"Yes, I figured as much," Gail ran a hand across Remus' arm as she lead the way out of the class. She spoke to him more than anyone else, "we'll be back in a minute."

It was quite dark in the hallway. It was strange how a bit of shadow worked to make Sirius' face seem brooding and, in Remus' absence, slightly more handsome. He seemed very much like a part of the dark hallway; a dark, lingering ghost. He stood a few feet away from Gail, but she could still make out his eyes.

"I don't have feelings for you," Sirius started calmly, "so I want you to take care of Moony. If you hurt him..."

"Hold on a moment," Gail halted the 'don't hurt my friend, or I'll mess you up' speech, "let's make everything clear, just so you can go in there and continue your friendship with James, Peter and Remus. Did you ever have these 'feelings' for me?"

"Mmm," Sirius scratched his chin, "as much as anyone, I guess."

"I see," Gail laughed to herself. That was likely the best answer she would get out of him, "well, I'll remind you that you were the first one to suggest breaking up."

"Yeah, and look where it landed me. I've had people on my back about you since," Sirius snorted rudely.

"Then I'll also make it clear to you exactly how I feel, since I'm not sure you're comprehending me completely," Gail spoke with an edge of calm. She had the marauder's full attention, so she had to speak bluntly, "you're more like a pet dog than anyone I would ever feel romantic love for. Sorry, _mate._"

If there was pain in Sirius' face, she didn't see it. That was all that needed to be said between herself and the boy. What she said was harsh, but it seemed like the only option in order to completely clear away the misunderstandings. Gail would never give Sirius the room to spin on his wheels about their relationship. She didn't even give him the chance to think 'maybe she really does like me'.

"Yes well, I can't exactly ask you to be my owner, can I?" Sirius laughed hoarsely. There seemed like a bit of lump in his voice.

"Don't cry. Come here," Gail inquired, taking a step forward and opening her arms to him for a hug, "it's really no wonder that people don't like me... That came across... badly."

Sirius accepted her a loose hug before pulling away. If there were tears in his eyes, she didn't see them. It was too dark in the hall. Grunting, he looked away from her, "that's not why; I'd say they're jealous that you always seem to know what to say and say it... even if it's really blunt."

"Sorry," Gail stepped away from Sirius, giving the sullen boy some space, "but it's better for you to have a clear idea of where we stand. We can't _ever_ be more than friends."

"Never?" Sirius laughed like a bark for a moment before coughing, "I guess that's why you have Moony... He'll treat you good."

"He does," Gail smiled faintly. She was glad to see that Sirius' mood was more steady than before. He was actually willing to look at her without the begrudging tinge in his eyes.

"So what did Remus say to you?" Gail asked, attempting to sound casual.

Sirius' face formed a scowl, "he asked me if I liked you... And well, I'll just say that he would willingly step aside for someone that could make you happy for the rest of your life."

"Hmm," Gail frowned as well, "but he's _the_ one person... He doesn't seem to get it, does he?"

"Moony thinks that you'd like to have children eventually, which he couldn't... you know..." Sirius stumbled for a minute.

"I don't necessarily care about having any children of my own at the moment," Gail reported, furrowing her brows slightly. It was strange to her that Remus had never asked her about it, even though the thought had seemingly unnerved him. There was a pause because Gail couldn't quite follow what he was saying. The whole notion of having children seemed foreign to her, at the moment.

"Heard of Umbridge?" Sirius asked, breaking the dome of silence around them. At Gail's blank stares, he reiterated, "Dolores Umbridge, a ministry worker. She's been working for years to pass or strengthen any and all legislation against half-breeds and anything that's not human."

"What does that have to do with... Oh... Anti-werewolf legislation?" Gail questioned. Her stomach knotted at the very idea. It was bad enough that werewolves had been shuffled back and forth between Being status and Beast status.

"Yes. Her main platform is to strengthen the werewolf registration and make it public... to make discrimination easier. If she got her way, well... The world would become quite a bit darker," Sirius explained with what appeared to be a look of disdain on his face, "and any children ol' Moony has would be affected worse than he was as a kid. He wouldn't want to bring that on anyone, let alone his own child."

"Registration?" Gail's stomach churned, mostly because she had forgotten about the registration. Because she normally worked for the Being Division of the Ministry, she didn't have to deal with the types that discriminated. Everyone that she worked with had been quite open-minded. The persecution of werewolves was horrible and hadn't even strayed into her mind because she didn't witness it daily. Gail hadn't ever considered it before, but she knew there had to be discrimination from the secrecy Remus kept around himself.

That was also the reason why _only_ three of the Minstry's nurseries were capable of taking care of werewolves. All of the others were controlled by the Beast Division, who preferred to deal with the violent nature of the werewolf in a different way. It was a good thing that the Being division continued to control the nursery Gail worked at. The Werewolf Support Services Division (W.S.S.) had taken great care to keep all of its programs to help its members intact.

"Well, just keep that in mind," Sirius frowned at her, "and if you ever meet Umbridge while you're working for the Ministry, do the world a favour and hex her ugly face off."

With that, Sirius pulled the door to the room back open and disappeared inside. Slowly, Gail pushed the information out of her mind. It would be a good topic to bring up with Remus later.

"Oh, you're back! Remus was worried that you two were snogging in the hallway," James greeted them cheerfully enough, but his smile faltered when he saw Sirius' face. Gail saw it too, in the light. His eyes were distant and somehow lacked the lustre she had seen years ago.

"She stomped on my heart," Sirius attempted to joke before his friends could ask. James moved to comfort him, "before I could even defend myself."

At that, Remus looked relieved, so Gail ignored the guilty twinge in her stomach. She sat herself back in the chair. It looked like Peter had fallen asleep on top of the table in the back of the class, and he was dead to the world. It was obvious that the heavy snoring was coming from him. Remus also did his part to make Sirius feel better, but only ended up annoying him.

"Let's just get this over with..." Sirius snapped, brushing past his two friends. He pulled his wand out with ease, flicking it over in Peter's direction. Whatever he did, it woke Peter up immediately. Turning, the handsome boy pointed his wand at Gail and a stream of gold dust seemed to float around Gail.

"This will prevent you from half shifting," Sirius explained quietly. He was aware that his friends were staring at him like he had three heads. Gail had effectively 'stomped' on his heart, and he hadn't even attempted revenge when she was perfectly defenceless, "now you can start. Good luck."

Nodding, Gail stared straight ahead. Fixing her eyes on an exceptionally detailed part of the diagram, she took a deep breath. She started recalling everything from the beginning of the notes to the end. Carefully, she imagined the diverse diagrams, runes and incantations in her head. Whenever she started to lose focus, she would blink a few times and attempt to focus once more. Little by little, she attempted to force her body to take the shape of a nightingale.

A few hours passed. Once Gail had begun to identify the different parts of one of the more complex pieces of the diagram, she started to feel a strange tingling in her nose. Whatever was happening, she did her best to keep focused. More than once, she had to adjust herself on the seat, because she felt like she was sliding off of it.

As her mind drifted towards one of the last diagrams, she attempted to force herself into the correct shape. In her mind, she imagined the silvery bird, her patronus. How she would love to be able to fly around the room, as it had.

Sharp pain ripped through Gail's back and legs. It wasn't the worst feeling she had ever experienced, it was a pin prick compared to the torture curse, but it was not pleasant. There was a reason why most wizards would shy away from becoming an animagus. It was more painful than a regular wizard would care to place on themselves.

"Focus Gail!" James said clearly, "you're almost transformed."

Gail's mind spun and she did her best to will her fingers into feathers and her feet into delicate talons. She did her best, but she could feel her mind slipping. Within a moment, the world went black. When she regained consciousness, she was on the ground. Gail attempted to move her hands to push herself up, but she couldn't feel her fingers as she normally would.

That aside, Gail eventually sat up to hear, "oh look, she's awake..."

Gail's eyes darted around the room. It seemed a lot brighter than before. So bright, in fact, that she was having trouble focusing. For some reason, the ground looked so much closer. For a moment, Gail assumed she had failed in her attempt to transform and the marauders had left her in a state of half transformation.

"Congratulations, Gail," Remus spoke quietly. Gail looked around for the source of his voice, but couldn't find it.

"Ah, so cute... Here little birdy-birdy," James cooed. Finally, he appeared, kneeling on the floor next to her. It was strange, but James' hands seemed to encircle around her and pluck her off the ground.

"Surprised? You successfully transformed, Gail," James explained, lifting her so that he could examine her carefully, "ah, here's the mirror. Have a look at yourself."

Carefully, James sat her down on one of the tables by a mirror. Gail almost tripped over the edge of the mirror. When she finally got her bearings, she looked down into the mirror. Staring back at her were two dark, circular eyes. A tawny nightingale stared back at her. She was slightly the wrong colour; she wasn't the same shade of brown as others of the same species. The plume on her chest was a bit lighter than the rest of her feathers. Carefully, Gail walked across the mirrors on her delicate feet. Her tail was closer to the colour of Lily's hair than to her own.

"She's as light as a snitch," James commented, taking a few steps away so the others could watch her as well.

Opening her mouth to talk, all that came out was a long, happy chirp.

"Look at her, all happy and everything," Sirius laughed happily. Gail turned her small head to stare over in his direction. Her eyes had become sharper over the last few minutes, she could make out more detail now than when she had been a human... She could plainly see that Sirius was in a better mood now.

"Ah, now she has to learn how to transfigure back into a human," Remus laughed. Gail felt that she did not want to change back quite yet. She wanted to fly. With a few steps, Gail attempted to move her wings while she kept an eye on the mirror. The wings, her wings, moved gracefully.

On instinct, Gail dropped herself off the edge of the table, to a general round of gasps. Before she could hit the ground, air caught under her wings and allowed for her to safely drift down. It wasn't quite flying, but she would learn...

"Gail, are you trying to scare me to death? It took Prong a long time to learn how to walk right with four legs... You shouldn't try flying for a while yet," Remus scolded her gently. He had attempted to grab her, thinking she would fall to the ground. Instead, he had landed on the ground himself. It was an act of chivalry, to be sure, but one that she hadn't needed.

His only answer was a series of chirps as Gail hopped towards him. She couldn't wait to be able to fly like a real bird. The taste of hovering had awoken something in her.

"Gail, you have to transform back now, the wards are about to start fading," James commented. When Gail turned her dark orbs upwards to stare him, he just shrugged.

"Yes, your body should be able to transform back easily when you tell it to," Peter finally piped up. Gail really didn't want to transform back, but because she was generally at the marauders' mercy, she willed herself back into her proper shape. It was a lot easier to transform back.

"Tomorrow, you should try it again," James commented when she had finally become human again, "and keep practising until you can do it without any effort. Your animagus shouldn't send a signal to the ministry anymore."

"Alright," Gail said. Her voice sounded someone odd for a moment, so she coughed.

"Oh, and don't tell anyone where you learned how to become an animagus when you get your license. If you have to, tell them you're a genius or something," James laughed dryly, "because what we've just done is _really_ illegal."

"Don't worry about it. I won't tell a soul," Gail affirmed it with a nod. She was quite glad that her voice was back to normal.

* * *

**Author Note:**

Whoohoo! Longer chapter, simply because I didn't want to leave all of you hanging. I'm also posting this early because I have a quiz tomorrow and I need to focus. Wish me luck!

Yes, there I touched on politics in this chapter.

What's the difference between Dirk Cresswell and Amos Diggory? Dirk works for the Being division; Goblin liason. Amos works for the Beast Division; no specified subdivision. What does this have to do with the story?

The Beast Division has executioners, as well as the Werewolf Registration and the Werewolf Capture unit. Certain sub-divisions are not NICE. Think of any bad part of the ministry shown through Hagrid's eyes in the books, and it is usually the Beast Division at fault.

The Being Division tends to treat creatures fairly and tries to give the struggling ones help.

Oh yes, before I forget... I've added a few pictures of Gail's animagus and other nightingales to my photobucket account on my profile. If you don't know what a nightingale looks like, you should go visit my photobucket or google image them. They're really quite cute.

-Rue

* * *

**The Comment Gallery**_  
Host: Gail Forester  
Guest: Lily Evans_

Gail: Welcome to the Commentery! It's going to be a quick one today, because this chapter is going to be posted early. Don't worry if you didn't get to review to the last chapter, we'll still read it off in the next one.

Lily: The first review is from Apocolips. Gail is becoming a woman, with a fluctuating personality. She's also starting to care about more things than just her next meal.

Gail: I resent that!

_Rue: I'm glad that you laugh at my jokes. I give James and Sirius the best one-liners I can think up._

Lily: The next review is from Sunni. House elves do the laundry, yes, but a certain few people have... let's just say that they've annoyed the house elves so much that their laundry doesn't get done very often. Even then, Peter is the kind of boy that smells, even if he has 30 baths a day.

Gail: Here here. The next review is from krazykook. Yes, it sucks to be on my period, even if it's imaginary. Something happened! I almost didn't become an animagus! GASP!

Lily: The horror. The next review is from Musik Drache. Yes, a nightingale is a bird that's slightly bigger than an American Robin... I could read wikipedia off for you...

Gail: You use wiki? I hear that the Harry Potter wikia gets used more than every other, at least for theis story!

Lily: Yes... well, the next review is from MaxRideRox. Gail didn't fail; oh my, it does rhyme! I'm not quite sure what else to say about the rest of your review, other than you should find a nice boy like Remus... and settle down.

Gail: But not Remus, he's mine.

Lily: Quite. The last review is from analogheart828! Yes! Finally, the notes are complete and Gail can start paying attention to me again! ME! It's all about me. MEEEE!!!

Gail: It's animagus time. Du-na-na-na... Na-na. Na-na... Can't touch this.

Lily: That's all, folks.

Gail: See you next chapter, on Friday!


	45. Chapter 45

**Chapter 45**

There was a huge scramble the last week before the exams. It became impossible to get a table in the library unless you "reserved" one early in the morning. This was pretty normal for most of the students, anyway. The smart ones took to sitting outside under the shade of some of the larger trees. After having OWLs, a majority of the sixth years felt that they didn't have to review like they had the previous year. Everywhere Gail went, it seemed like most of the NEWT levels students were completely unprepared for their finals and were rushing to get caught up. One of the few students who actually was prepared was Lily. Of course, you wouldn't notice that the redhead was prepared, because she always seemed quite flustered.

Gail on the other hand, had found herself relaxing more. She had spare time now that she was finished studying up on the animagus notes. After she finished reviewing for the day, she would head over to the marauders' dorm and practice transforming a few times back and forth. It was slowly becoming easier for her. Of course, it took a lot of patience and energy, but at least it gave her a reason to spend some time with Remus, who usually oversaw her changes to make sure she didn't get hurt.

"Where did I put it? WHERE?!" Lily's hollering snapped Gail out of her moment of being half-awake. Frantically, the redhead was digging in her trunk, looking for what she had misplaced. Yet another of Lily's things had gone missing. It was odd that the missing belongings had stopped reappearing in the room. Melanie probably thought it was clever of her to make sure the items permanently disappeared.

"What are you looking for?" Jo asked sleepily, rolling over to glare at Lily. It was 4:30 in the morning, and it seemed very much like Lily was losing her mind. The redhead didn't respond, much to Jo's annoyance.

"Go back to bed," Jo ordered her, huffing as she burrowed back into her bed.

Gail, now wide awake, peered at Lily over the corner of her bed. The redhead seemed to be in tears because of her missing item. As quietly as she could, Gail got up and padded over to her trunk. Opening it, she found the missing item in plain sight.

"Looking for this?" Gail asked quietly, bringing Lily's lucky amulet over to her friend, "looks like our _friend_ started storing things in my trunk."

Lily took the pendant gently, cupping it in her slender hands. Her tears dried up almost instantly and her emerald green eyes sparkled. Lily spoke a bit coarsely, "thanks Gail. I don't know what I'd do without it..."

"It's pretty," Gail paused for a moment, "where did you get it?"

"My sister gave it to me... back when we were still friends. Back when I was _normal_," Lily practically spat the last word.

"So you don't consider yourself to be normal anymore?" Gail caught the redhead's eyes, giving her a pointed stare.

"I... well..." Lily stumbled on her words for a moment, transferring her stare to the pendant in her hands, "I understand that I'm not the same- I'm not a muggle, that is- but that doesn't make me weird. Everyone here is like me, right?"

"We're all wizards, Lily," Gail stated pointedly, "we can't change what we are, even if we're different from the rest of the world."

"You're right," Lily smiled sadly, still not making eye contact. Her finger traced the red gem imbedded in the bronze metal. Gail wasn't quite sure that the redhead believed that being a wizard could become perfectly normal with some adjusting. There wasn't anything Gail could do that wouldn't make her sound pretentious. She couldn't understand how Lily felt, and it was assuming much to think they had anything in common, since Gail couldn't even remember her childhood. They sat in silence for a while. Just when Gail was debating going back to bed, Lily started talking again.

"I always knew I wasn't normal... I wasn't a muggle."

"Really?" That surprised Gail quite a bit. She hadn't heard Lily talk about her childhood in much detail before.

"I guess... I was able to control _it_ somewhat," Lily commented with a wry smile, "I used to swing as high as I could. At the top, I would jump off and levitate down slowly. The last time I did... My sister called me a _freak_. That was quite a few years ago, though," Lily commented sourly.

"She just doesn't understand what it's like."

"I wish it was just that," Lily sighed heavily. It was obvious that she was upset, "Severus saw us... And well, he didn't make things any better."

A pang tugged at Gail's heart. There was no way that Lily deserved to be called a freak, even if she was controlling and had a hot temper. Of course, Gail had long since forgotten the looks she had received from Lily back in her third year; looks of dismay and neutrality. Of course, back then Gail hadn't bothered about the other girls at all. Gail had been self absorbed and snide most of the time. It was no great secret as to why Lily, Jo and even Amber hadn't taken to her immediately.

Gail considered herself lucky that she was friends with Lily now. This thought propelled Gail forward, pulling the redhead into a tight hug. Tears seeped through Gail's robes, which she ignored. As an honourable friend, it was her job to put up with the tears and the boogers.

"You're not a freak. It's not your fault," Gail whispered soothingly. Awkwardly, she patted the back of Lily's head as the redhead cried into her shoulder, "it's not your fault at all."

"But-" Lily sniffed quite loudly, not bothering to pull herself off of Gail's shoulder.

"It's not your fault," Gail said more firmly, sending the redhead into a chorus of relieved sobs. It seemed like Lily had been bottling up the feelings surrounding her sister for a long time. There was hurt in the charismatic redhead's heart and it didn't suit her at all.

It was almost 6:00 in the morning by the time Lily calmed down and stopped crying. Instead of crawling back into her bed, as Gail had suspected the worn out girl to do, Lily shot up.

"Our apparition exam is today," Lily quickly flung herself around the room in an attempt to get ready. Gail, more sulky than anything else and grumpy from a lack of sleep, shuffled around more slowly. She still wasn't able to apparate properly. She hadn't even splinched herself. Along with about a third of the class, she expected herself to fail the exam brilliantly. It was too late for her to worry about her inability.

"Breakfast shouldn't have started yet," Lily glanced at the small charm she had placed on the wall that kept time, just like a normal clock, "I'm going to head to the library for some studying..."

"I don't think I can focus on reviewing this early in the morning... So, I'll see you during the apparition exam," Gail parted with Lily at bottom of the stairs in front of the fat lady's portrait. Lily headed towards the library.

It had been nearly half a year since Gail had stopped by to see Flink. Certainly, she had been busy but neglecting her little friend was atrocious. Feeling rather guilty about it, Gail decided it would be a nice morning to stop by and visit for a few hours. Entering the kitchen, Gail was greeted with several small voices.

"Miss Gail!" Flink came running over to her, leaving whatever she had been working on to the others. From what the elves were making for breakfast, the kitchen should have been way more hot. Luckily for the house elves, cooling charms had been placed in the kitchen to prevent the temperature from becoming sweltering.

"Hello Flink," Gail greeted the house elf with a faint smile. It seemed like Flink was unchanging; she looked exactly the same as the first time they'd met. Her huge, globe like eyes surveyed Gail for a moment.

"You need something to eat," Flink observed, snapping her fingers to summon a platter of toast for Gail, who accepted gratefully.

"I'm sorry I haven't been able to visit you lately," Gail said after polishing off two pieces of toast. Her nerves screamed that she shouldn't be eating, but out of politeness, she did anyway.

"Don't worry, Miss Gail!" Flink squeaked with a cheery smile, "I've heard of how busy the students get in their last two years.... Last... Last..."

With that, Flink broke into a series of shrill sobs. As soon as she started wailing, she became obsessed with trying to smack the flat part of her head against one of the walls. Something had obviously upset Flink to the point that she had to punish herself, a common trait among the house elves.

"Oh Flink!" Gail fastened her arms around the little elf quickly, pulling her small friend away from the wall, "don't hurt yourself. Tell me what's wrong."

"Y-you... only have a year left!" Flink wailed, plucking at the silver piece of jewellery that Gail had given her. It certainly was a tearful day for Gail's female friends, "then I won't ever see you! Never again! Oh, but... I shouldn't be sad! Hogwarts... Hogwarts!"

Gail couldn't quite understand why Flink was so divided about it, as if Gail's friendship threatened the loyalty the elf felt for the school. Calmly, she forced the little elf to take a seat on one of the stools that had been left in the kitchen. Instead of talking about Gail's last year at Hogwarts, Gail switched the topic.

"Oh, I guess I haven't told you about the cottage I'll be renting over the summer, have I?" Gail asked sweetly, running a gentle hand over Flink's head.

Flink looked amazed and stared up at Gail with watery eyes, "really? A whole cottage?"

"Well, it's not overly big. The elderly couple that owns it wanted to sell it, so they posted it in the prophet, but I can't afford to buy it yet. When I contacted the owners, they offered to let me rent it until I could afford to buy it," Gail smiled brightly down at her friend, "it's not overly large, it's about three rooms, but the backyard is what attracted me. It's almost twice as big as the cottage... From the picture."

"Oh no, Miss Gail! You mustn't live alone," Flink squeaked, shaking her head furiously. The look in her eyes meant that she was serious, "someone really has it against you, Miss! You must be more careful! You can't live alone."

"I doubt Melanie would ever be able to do anything," Gail scoffed at the idea. The blonde was the only one who Gail figured was after her blood, but the idea that Melanie would actually try to harm her was a ridiculous. Flink seemed to disagree with this, though.

"That one!" Flink shrieked, jumping up and down, "That one! Oh, she is a wicked one! A horrible one. We've been catching her taking things, yes... My friend Arblie tried to stop her from taking the fire-head's necklace and was kicked for it..."

"She kicked your friend Arblie?" Gail asked slowly, a hint of temper in her voice. It was one thing to mess with material items, and another to practice cruelty to living creatures.

"Y-yes," Flink seemed to calm down slightly, seeing Gail's anger, "the wicked girl stole those things, Miss Gail. We did our best to stop her, to place the things she stole where you and the others would find them..."

Gail was disgusted. The house elves had covered for Melanie, making sure that theft wouldn't be pinned on her. Flinks friend, Arblie, had even tried to prevent the blonde from stealing Lily's most prized possession. Yes, Gail would definitely have a chat with the blonde.

"In any case, you mustn't live alone! She's targeting you, that wicked girl is. It's not just her, either! She has friends that aren't nice at all. Dark men, bad men. We have heard of them, even here," Flink warned her.

"I'm sorry Flink, I've already signed the tenant contract," Gail shook her head, but the worried look in Flink's eyes make Gail feel quite guilty. The house elf just wanted the best for her, "well, I suppose I could look into getting a flatmate."

The house elf didn't look like she believed Gail, though. There was a determined look in Flink's eyes, though she didn't say anything. That made Gail remember a question she had.

"Hey Flink, is there a reason why the house elves don't clean up the boy's sixth year dorm? I was in there and I noticed how messy it was," Gail asked calmly, watching Flink's eyes go wide.

"We don't talk about that!" Flink hissed as quietly as she could. Gail ignored the stares she was receiving from the other house elves.

"Why? I thought you got along with Sirius and the others."

"Oh, the masters are just fine to us," Flink said in a deadpan tone, "but no matter how much we clean, it just gets worse the next day. Little Tamn got lost under one of the beds for half a day."

It was an absurd idea. There was no way a house elf could get lost under a bed, no matter how messy it was. Well, unless it was Peter's bed, then the smell would likely knock the poor thing out for a few hours. The smell was enough to leave it feeling disoriented when it awoke, which probably made its time under Peter's bed seem longer.

"So you're saying that you don't clean the marauder's room because of that?" Gail asked jokingly. Flink didn't seem to find her very humorous though, the scowl on her face only deepened. She took her duties quite seriously.

"We almost lost Tamn to the bed," Flink stated somewhat reverently, "that is one mess we are unable to clean. We're just grateful the contamination hasn't spread from the one dorm room..."

Gail glanced at the ornate clock on the wall in the kitchen. It was roughly fifteen minutes to seven, when breakfast would be served. Of course, Gail had no real reason to leave quite yet, apart from there being an awkward pause between Flink and her. Without a word, the house elf used her knobby hand to hold Gail's arm. Her grip was surprisingly firm.

"We must go talk with the headmaster," Flink finally declared.

Gail could only wonder why she was being dragged around by Flink. There was a secret, house elf-sized door. The door was concealed with a charm that only allowed the elves or staff to make the stone wall form a door, apparently. It seemed to be connected to a hallway that went past the staff lounge, rooms and washrooms. The cramped hall eventually merged with the larger hallway, right in front of the gargoyle that was guarding Dumbledore's office. Flink gave the gargoyle the password and pulled Gail along with her.

"To what honour am I visited by two... _friends_?" Dumbledore asked pleasantly when they had arrived, mirth shining behind his light blue eyes.

"I would like to be reassigned, sir," Flink stated meekly, shifting one of her feet absently.

"And why is that, good Flink?" Dumbledore asked patiently. Gail was impressed that he was able to recall the elf's name, out of the hundred other house elves.

With that, the elf forced Gail forward, "Miss Gail is going to live alone!"

"You seem to have sparked some loyalty in one of Hogwart's finest house elves, Miss Forester," Dumbledore stated plainly, "but I would have to agree with Flink. It's highly unwise to live alone on a premises that isn't protected with wards. The combination might prove fatal in these times..."

For a moment, the headmaster seemed to ponder his own thoughts for a moment, "yes, I don't think you're quite ready to start living alone. Very well, over the summer, Flink the house elf will be stationed at your house to make sure nothing untoward happens to you."

Gail suspected that there was something more than Dumbledore was letting on. His eyes were a lot more sharp than normal. She had to wonder if he suspected the same things as Flink, who seemed overly paranoid. On that note, Gail remembered Mrs. Prewett. For a second, she yearned to ask Dumbledore why he wouldn't allow the elderly woman to help out, but she held her tongue. It wasn't the right time to ask, not when the headmaster was scrutinizing Gail so thoroughly.

"Ah, Flink, would you give us a moment? There is something I would like to discuss with Miss Forester," Dumblefore finally turned his eyes to the house elf, who immediately excused herself from the office.

"It seems like your ability to charm others has been growing more effective lately," Dumbledore commented lightly, as if to watch her reaction.

"How would you know about my abilities, sir?" Gail asked, slightly curious as to how much the headmaster knew about the centaurs.

Dumbledore smiled fondly at her, "I have friends in many places, you should know. It isn't the least strange that one should be a centaur named Firenze. I have heard almost as much as you, I would guess."

"I see," Gail's mouth felt somewhat dry, "they didn't want me to tell anyone, sir. I didn't think it was prudent to go around telling their secrets to others when it was obvious that they were showing me such a rare thing: trust."

"On that, I quite agree with you," Dumbledore chuckled to himself, almost like he knew that Gail had told one other person. Remus wouldn't repeat the story to anyone, though, not when she had been so frantic to keep it a secret.

"The less people who know your secret, the safer you are," Dumbledore continued, "but just in case, I would like you to keep your head down this summer. Things outside this school are not as calm as they appear, and it is very likely that the 'Death Eaters' that have appeared will try to recruit every wizard and witch they can. From retirement to first year students."

"That's why you're letting Flink stay with me?"

"No, that's just for outward appearances. I feel that it is my responsibility to keep such a..."

"Artifact," Gail supplied when Dumbledore paused.

"You are hardly an artifact, Miss Forester," Dumbledore stated solemnly, "you may be the most distinguished transfiguration ever done, but that is just speculation."

"So what do you think I am?" Gail asked slowly, surveying Dumbledore with her dark eyes fixed on him before she remembered her manners, "sir."

"There are a great number of possibilities," Dumbledore said, "but I haven't the faintest idea whether any of the legends are true. At this time, I will conclude that you are an exceptionally talented witch with an affinity for animals of all kinds."

"Well said," Gail wished she could smile as easily as the headmaster, but there was no way she could, "but even if I'm exceptionally talented, I'm afraid I won't be passing my apparition exam today."

"Oh?" Dumbledore leaned forward across the desk, "there's one thing that they've forgotten to teach the students, mainly because it doesn't fit within the three Ds..."

"What's that, sir?" Gail asked curiously, wondering if Dumbledore would be a good tutor.

"Ah, look at the time. You should get going before you're late for your exam," Dumbledore rose from behind the desk and guided Gail towards the door. Before he shooed her through it, he paused.

"Sir, I do need all the help I can get," the dusky haired girl paused at the door, waiting to be removed from the office, "what's the one thing they don't teach us?"

Dumbledore smiled faintly, "confidence."

* * *

**Author note:**

Augh, I had to redo one of my assignments because of various problems. It's such a pain, but it's worth a good chunk of my overall mark. I got it done, but the whole thing took close to ten hours to complete. What a waste of time. That's why this chapter is so late.

Anyway, I hope all of you enjoyed this chapter. It was all one scene!  
Ever noticed how women all seem to get emotional at the same time? Poor Lily and Flink.

-Rue

* * *

**The Comment Gallery**_  
Host: Gail Forester  
Guest: Mr. Potter_

Gail: Welcome to the Commentery! We have a very special guest today. Welcome, Mr. Potter.

Mr. Potter: Hello Gail. I hope you're well.

Gail: Yes sir.

Mr. Potter: So what do you do here?

Gail: We read the reviews from the story and comment on them. Here, read the first one.

Mr. Potter: Oh, okay. The reviewer is Sunni. Gail, you're an animagus? Since when?

Gail: Oh, I just became one last chapter. I'm a genius, you know. Smarter than your son.

Mr. Potter: I knew there was a reason why my wife seemed to like you. She's always wanted a talented daughter, because she thinks I've spoilt James too much.

Gail: That's probably an understatement, but anyway, the next-

Mr. Potter: Wait, what does the reviewer mean by "that's just how talent sounds...?" Is that a code or something?

Gail: Oh, that's what Sirius said about his... uh, broom.

Mr. Potter: James is more talented than Sirius in regards to broom handling.

Gail: I bet... the next reviewer is Apocolips. Information overload? Thanks for reviewing.

Mr. Potter: Oh, I'm next, aren't I? Krazykook, why can't Remus fly? Doesn't he own a broom?

Gail: You sure do ask a lot of questions, Mr. Potter.

Mr. Potter: I've been out of the loop for a while. You'll have to tell me what's "heap."

Gail: Sure thing... as soon as we finish with the reviews. MaxRideRox! Sirius is a complex DUDE. Chances are, he either wanted to make me jealous by dating other girls, or he really didn't think I was that important until Remus started dating me. Either way, I shut him down.

Mr. Potter: What a pity. That boy needs a little feminine guidance.

Gail: More like a dog collar.

Mr. Potter: Is that slang for something?

Gail: Nope, next review! Musik Drache, what about poor me? Turning into an animagus is painful!

Mr. Potter: Not as painful as having your heart and hope crushed by a beautiful woman.

Gail: Right... Sure.... Fred-Weasley-Isn't-Dead! Think about it like this: right now, we're in the twenty first century. Such is the way of things in the COMMENTERY! But in the real story, all of you get to see back into the 1970s.

Mr. Potter: Like a time-turner!

Gail: Gee, don't give that away, Mr. Potter. People aren't supposed to understand the title of the story.

Mr. Potter: Oops, sorry.

Gail: The last review is from FAIRYPRINCESSLOVER. Whoa, caps.

Mr. Potter: Slow-burning love is sweet, isn't it? Just like the time I met James' mother. She was the most attractive woman I have ever laid eyes on. I am so glad I was in Hogwarts at the same time as her.... -goes on for three hours- ... And I've loved her since.

-Gail is fast asleep. Mr. Potter uses his want to glue her hair to the desk as a punishment for not listening-

Mr. Potter: Look at the time. I have to leave now... My wife is expecting me! -apparates-

Gail: -sleep talking- See... next chapter...


	46. Chapter 46

**A/N: This chapter contains some graphic information. If you have a weak stomach, you might want to skip the second scene of this chapter.**

**Chapter 46**

"Confidence, huh," Gail muttered to herself as she walked down the hallway towards the Great Hall. She would arrive early, but that was fine since it was likely that Lily would meet her outside of the hall.

"Mornin' Gail," a voice chirped over Gail's right shoulder. Turning to look, she noticed Sirius emerging from one of the smaller hallways. He had a strange look in his eyes. It was highly likely he had just won a duel, considering he had his wand out.

"Who'd you hex?" Gail asked casually, attempting to peer down the hallway behind him.

"Just Snivellus," Sirius stated with a dark grin, "he won't be making the apparition exam."

"Oh? Serves him right," Gail nodded, continuing to walk towards the Great Hall, "never liked him. He was a berk to Remus and Lily..."

"The two people _you_ care about," Sirius stated quietly, "and the person _I_ care about the most. The number of times he's used spells on Prongs when the duel was already over..."

Gail had always thought that Sirius didn't like Snape because of his pureblood tendencies. That just showed how little she knew about the haughty marauder. He truly loathed Snape because the slimy git always targeted James with nasty spells. Why was James Snape's target, though? Was it because James and Sirius were everything that Snape wanted to be, or perhaps because they were closer to Lily Evans than he could ever be? Unfortunately for Snape, he never realized that Sirius would give everything up to be like him. Snape, who was creepy and unattractive, but who could also choose his own path without being bothered by his family.

"I've never seen them duel properly," Gail stated, "must have been fun to watch."

"Well, sure," Sirius scratched his cheek, averting his eyes in thought, "but that was years ago, back when ol' Snivellus used to have manners. Now it's just hex or be hexed, and I hexed him good."

"Manners?" Gail almost laughed at the idea. Sirius was probably quoting James, whose idea of a proper duel was one with manners and rules. That was James' chivalric way, though. It was somewhat endearing.

"Where is James, by the way? Don't tell me he's become sick of tormenting Snape?" Gail questioned curiously. Sirius responded with a coarse laugh, his stormy grey eyes seemed to light up.

"He's gone to woo Evans. Saw her leaving the library and went to head her off," Sirius explained shortly, swinging his head around as they entered a large group of sixth and seventh years.

"There you are, Gail! I thought you weren't going to make it," Lily pushed her way through the crowd. There was a dark look in her eyes when the emerald globes dropped to Sirius. She was not pleased to see him at all. It looked like James' wooing was not effective on the sleep deprived girl. Curtly, Lily greeted him, "Black."

"Evans," Sirius greeted her back with a short nod before diving into a group of students, who moved for him more easily than for Lily. He was slowly heading towards a head with very messy hair. Gail thought she saw the back of Remus' head near James' head. For a moment, she admired how tall the two boys were.

Lily's annoyance seemed to fade when Sirius had left her personal space. Quickly, Lily pulled Gail around by the elbow, through the crowd until they were first in front of the doors.

"What did he want?" Lily asked darkly once they'd stopped walking.

It would take a while for Lily to warm up to Sirius, one of the main tormenters of her childhood friend. Lily probably couldn't even fit it in her mind that the boy wasn't as bad as she thought. Because of this, Gail decided not to disclose the fact that Snape's disappearance was to blame on the attractive marauder.

"Nothing really. We just met up down the hall and had a chat... What happened with Potter?"

"How'd you know?" Lily stared at her for a moment and when Gail didn't give an explanation, she continued speaking. "He just came up to me and... well... Started acting like a git."

"Really? As opposed to when?" Gail laughed. She could imagine what had happened. They had been getting on quite well recently, so James had probably tried acting 'smooth' and effectively annoyed the redhead.

"More so than usually... lately," Lily grumbled. Her muttering didn't end there, but Gail's attention was swapped to the opening doors.

Taking a deep breath, Gail stepped into the Great Hall and felt her stomach sink. Behind her, there were choruses of good luck, none of which were directed at Gail. She took a spot next to Lily. It looked like there was a small group of elderly witches and wizards standing at the front of the hall. The apparition examiners looked quite a bit older than any of the Hogwarts instructors. Once all of the students had drifted in, Twycross started talking.

"We will test you each one at a time. I will ask that all of you remain quite while you wait for your turn, lest you should distract your peers who will be fully able to exact revenge on you for such a distraction," Twycross wheezed, like normal, "I wish all of you luck during this exam."

The ten wizards spread out and started examining the first student in each row. It wasn't long before Lily was being examined. She was able to apparate easily into her hoop. The instructor complimented her and marked her passing grade on the clipboard. It was then Gail's turn.

The whole room seemed to become way too quiet.

"Alright dear, please apparate into your hoop," the elderly witch spoke, staring over her little spectacles at Gail. A lump formed in Gail's throat and she started shaking. It was inevitable that she felt her insides beginning to squirm.

"Dear?" The little witched stared at her, "do you need a moment? I can come back to you..."

"No, I'll be fine," Gail found her voice somehow. She focused on her hoop as she had in the previous classes. Instead of thinking about how she had failed all the other times, she focused on the three Ds and attempted to feel confident. She imagined that there was a cute, baby dragon in the hoop and she needed to apparate over to feed it.

With as much confidence as she could muster, given her past failures, Gail twisted herself. For a moment, she felt herself almost ripping in half. Her stomach was almost left behind. Gail closed her eyes and imagined herself in the middle of the hoop. When she opened her eyes, she wasn't where she had been a moment ago. A wave of sickness flooded over Gail and bile leap into her mouth.

"Well done, Miss," the elderly witch said behind her, "excellent. Direct centre, even. Wonderful targeting. You pass."

Gail didn't even hear her grade. She had to keep a hand over her mouth in order to keep from vomiting. She had never been so motion sick in her life. Her knees were practically jelly and her head was throbbing. Lily had a huge, goofy grin on her face when Gail turned around. The redhead didn't say a word, but continued to smile knowingly as the rest of the students were examined. The exam was over quite quickly, much to Gail's relief. She felt that she would very much like to have a nap.

"I'm off, I have my Potions exam," Lily said quietly after the apparition exam. She was still positively beaming. She had congratulated Gail at least five times, claiming that she knew Gail would be able to do it. Gail stuck to her story that it was a complete fluke, and she would very much like never to apparate again.

Watching Lily depart, Gail heard a voice call her. She quickly turned around to see three marauders in all their glory. James was beaming in victory, almost as brightly as Lily had been. Sirius was much cooler about it, though.

"You pass?" Remus asked, leading the others towards her. He took her hand and offered her a charming smile.

"Yes. You?" Gail asked, knowing the answer. Of course the three intelligent boys had passed.

"Of course we did," James responded, "and we left a present for the examiners."

One could only imagine the kind of present the three boys would leave for their least favourite instructor and examiners. Perhaps they had used a charm to scrawl "Dungbreath" on the wall for Twycross, or something equally rude. Gail preferred not knowing what they had done, in any case. Instead, she indulged herself by squeezing Remus' hand and pulling him a bit closer.

"What's the matter?" Remus stared down at her, moving a hand to brush her bangs out of her face, "are you sick?"

"No, just tired... Why?" Gail mumbled, leaning her head against his shoulder momentarily.

"You're usually not this clingy... when the others are around," Remus laughed nervously.

"Can't help it. Lily woke me up at 4:30 this morning..." Gail mumbled passively. Faintly, she noticed Remus' toned arm wrap around her.

"She did?" James asked curiously, "that would explain why she was a bit grumpy..."

"Mmm," Gail wasn't even paying attention to James, she was already half asleep.

* * *

"Shh... Padfoot, you're way too loud. You'll wake her."

That was the first thing Gail heard when her brain leap into being awake. Remus' voice came from quite close by. The next detail she noticed was that she was quite warm, and was being moved. Someone was carrying her like a princess. The smell of dried leaves and chocolate floated around the person carrying her and made her mouth water a little bit. Undoubtedly, it was Remus that was carrying her. Because of this, she opted to keep her eyes closed.

"Looks like we have some friends," Gail thought she heard one of the boys say, probably James.

Gently, Remus sat her down on the ground against the wall. When he stepped away, Gail slowly opened her eyes to peer through her tawny eyelashes. She noted that Remus had covered her with his light cloak. The group of friends that James had mentioned were the same, annoying group of Slytherins that Remus had dealt with before via Bat Bogey hex. It wasn't enough that Remus had been able to deal with them with one hex: they were back for more. To her surprise, Peter had met up with his friends, but he was quite twitchy and nervous looking, even from what Gail could see.

"Well, well, guarding the princess are we? You're outnumbered this time, Potter," Gail watched Rosier take a step forward from his posse and wave his wand around like he was superior.

"Oh, I don't know about being outnumbered," Sirius drawled. His shoulders were squared, and Gail could imagine that his face was bright with excitement about the coming duel.

"Shut up, blood traitor," Mulciber took a step forward as well, leaving the crowd with his wand focused on Sirius.

Sirius growled, his good mood evaporating quite quickly. In an instant, he had his wand snapped onto Mulciber. As a result, at least ten other wands were directed at him. Rosier held a hand up, signifying that his followers were not to do anything until he said so.

"We're giving you a chance here... Just leave the girl here and go," Rosier offered them, "we don't have a bone to pick with you, but the mudblood has crossed us for the last time."

"You mean she made you look utterly idiotic _more_ than once?" Remus asked sarcastically. Gail wished she could have seem Rosier's face at that moment, but her lovely boyfriend was in the way. With shoulders tense and was out in front of him, Remus was a very ideal knight.

"Oh, I forgot you were dating the mudblood, Lupin," Rosier taunted him, doing his best to give Remus a pitiful look, "best someone like you could do, huh?"

"It would be wise of you not to call her that," Remus snapped back. Gail was glad she couldn't see his face. He sounded like he was completely furious.

As quietly as she could, Gail removed the cloak from herself and pulled out her own wand. It was no use pretending to be asleep anymore. Before she stood up, she placed a rudimentary shielding charm in front of Peter, who was the most likely to become useless or turn tail during the fight. Her wakefulness was noticed first by Rosier.

"Looks like we woke the _princess_ up," Rosier snarled nastily, spraying a little spit when he talked. He was staring at her with cold, bloodshot eyes. Yet again, Gail was glad that she wasn't placed in Slytherin, with some of the most ugly teenagers. Rosier was such an ugly boy. He could have given Snape a run for the most greasy hair, which was saying something because Snape's hair was longer and could _hold more_ grease. That was where the similarities ended, though. Rosier had a horribly squashed, tiny nose, thin lips and a blotchy complexion.

"Good morning to you, too, ugly. What's with your obsession?" Gail hoped she returned the look Rosier was giving her with an even more icy look.

Rosier hefted his wand in Gail's direction and launched a spell at her without even giving her a warning. Blood splattered across Gail's cheek. A line appeared on her face from the bridge of her nose to just below her left ear. The hit made her stumble backwards. It felt like a red hot, thin blade had ripped a chunk of flesh from her skin off. Around the wound was numbed by the pain. Rosier had definitely severed some nerves in her face. Gail didn't even notice that a large chunk of her hair was on the ground.

Spells were being flung around Gail, who was leaning against the wall to keep herself upright. She had been right that Peter would be useless. He had ducked behind his friends and kept looking down the hallway as if he was thinking about running off.

James and Sirius were performing brilliantly. If she hadn't been half-phased out due to the pain in her face, she would very much like to watch them take down the Slytherins. As it was, though, she was beginning to feel like fainting and the light was fading from her left eye. She trained her right eye on Remus' back, willing him to win the duel against Rosier. She saw Remus fling a spell at Rosier, knocking the git off his feet momentarily.

In response, Rosier scrambled up and launched a stunning spell at Remus. Unfortunately for Rosier, it nicked the corner of the shield spell Gail had set up to protect Peter. It rebounded and hit Avery in the side. The boy teetered and fell over, causing Sirius to laugh quite loudly. Remus didn't find it so funny, though. He launched a full body bind back at Rosier a minute before she thought she heard someone shout down the hall.

That was the last Gail recalled. Her entire world went dark.

* * *

The smell of sterile sheets and disinfectant woke Gail up later. The blankets that had been wrapped around her were scratchy, the room was far too bright. Someone was whispering, but Gail couldn't make out what was being said. Her itchy, left cheek was distracting her. With her eyes still closed, she reached a hand toward her cheek. Instead of touching skin, though, she felt a bandage.

"Don't poke at it!" Pomfrey scolded her quite loudly, causing Gail to snap her dark brown eyes open. The old woman was glowering at her while standing next to the bed.

"Tsk... You've opened it up. Now I'll have to bandage it again," Pomfrey snapped, fixing a hard stare on Gail, "and you'll be needing to take a few more potions for me."

Gail groaned but made no other complaint. The last time she had to drink potions, _The Jug_ had almost done her in. She supposed that she would have been able to feign sickness and claim that she was too sick to take the potion, but it was probably for her own good that she take it. It was odd to have Pomfrey to rip the bandage off and work around her face. Gail wished she could see what the woman was doing. Pomfrey's dismal look, coupled with grumbling about "what kids do to one another" were making Gail nervous.

"As long as you don't pick at it, it won't leave a scar. I've had to use a lot of dittany to keep it from scarring, Miss Forester. You should be grateful," the mediwitch finally snapped, holding out a shocking red potion to her, "now drink this. It'll replenish your blood."

Grudgingly, Gail downed the potion. To her surprise, the potion tasted faintly like cherries. Pomfrey nodded and took the flask away. Before Gail could even ask about leaving the hospital wing, the mediwitch was already moving to her next patient. Out of the corner of her eye, Gail could see one of the Slytherins that had been dueling James and Sirius. It looked like he had been hexed really badly. Gail wished she had seen it. Gail just wished that there was something to do, other than stare at the ceiling.

"Hello, Madam Pomfrey. Is it alright if I visit Gail?"

Pomfrey took a deep breath before answering, "you may, but make sure she doesn't move her head."

Gail twitched her head to the side, doing her best to see who had come to see her. Gail would have smiled if she could. Remus, half hidden behind a bouquet of flowers, had come to call on her. He left the flowers at the end of her bed and sat down in the stool next to her.

"You look like hell," Gail finally spoke after a moment of silence.

"You look worse. One side of your hair is really short," Remus said bitterly, looking away. Gail didn't have a response to that.

"What happened after I passed out?" Gail asked finally when she couldn't take the silence any longer.

"We got caught by McGonagall," Remus answered truthfully, "and she made a big deal over you, thinking that you were dead... Your blood was all over everything. It was..."

"Scary?" Gail laughed at her own bad luck, "thanks for taking care of me, Darling... And thank you for teaching that bug a lesson."

Remus leaned forward on the chair, so that Gail could examine his worried face better. He took her hand and squeezed it firmly. His hand was slightly colder than hers, it made her wonder how long he had been outside in the cool

"Detentions?" Gail asked ruefully, ignoring the mist in her eyes. She felt horrible for making Remus worry about her to the point that he looked faint.

"A month for us and some of the Slytherins," Remus explained, "you got off. Sirius explained that you didn't use any hexes... But Rosier is being expelled for attempting to kill you. I think Mulciber and Avery will go with him."

"So they can get on the fast track to becoming Death Eaters," Gail snorted. Her cheek was really becoming itchy, but that was just proof that it was healing.

"Lily been worried?" Gail asked after another short pause.

"She flung things at James," Remus said quietly. His face showed a small grin, "while she was crying. I thought she would kill him: she nearly hit him in the head with one of the bigger vases. "

"He ducked?" Gail laughed. She couldn't imagine someone as agile as James not being able to dodge such an object. If Lily had thrown something lighter, though, he probably would have let Lily hit him.

"You're asking if _The_ James Potter dodged a measly vase?" Remus laughed, "wait until you hear him tell the story."

"That's just James for you; centre of attention, so his story must be epic," Gail laughed. It was true, if you asked the messy haired boy about his quidditch exploits, you could write down an unending story about his feats. Gail was busy thinking about James' story telling when Remus leaned in and brushed a kiss across her brow.

"I was worried. You were asleep for two days," Remus whispered quietly, brushing another kiss across the edge of her eyelashes.

"I'm sorry," Gail murmured back, "I didn't mean to get my head slashed. It won't happen again."

"I'll have your word, Gail," Remus leaned back, examining her, "don't pull something reckless like that again."

A wave of guilt flooded through her. There was no way she could resist agreeing with Remus. He was right, she had taken a huge risk in appearing before Rosier. A risk that she would not take again, or so she promised. Content with Gail's answer, Remus settled himself back on the stool.

"So when are you getting out of here?" Remus asked her.

"I suspect that Madam Pomfrey might try to keep me forever," Gail scratched the right side of her nose, just to keep her fingers busy.

"That would be a problem," Remus joked delightfully, "because I plan on taking you with me _forever_."

Before Remus could say anything else, Gail's eyes went wide, "oh no! I've missed the final test in Care of Magical Creatures!"

* * *

**Author Note:**

Oooh~ So no apparition exam was ever written in the books. How did you like it?

Have you ever done something remarkable when you're just too tired to care about doing it right? I passed my art history exam last year with an 80% (B+) after sitting in a three hour accounting final. So, I guess Gail is a bit like me, probably only this way.

I can always tell when you guys think the chapter is boring! Always. But just remember that I usually put important information in slower chapters...

Trivia Question: Can you recall where the Prewetts lived? Describe their house, if you can. If you can't, describe what kind of cottage you think Gail will be staying in during the summer.

* * *

**The Comment Gallery**  
_Host: Gail Forester  
Guest: Mad-Eye Moody._

Gail: Welcome to the Comment Gallery. Mr. Moody had joined me today.

Mad-Eye: CONSTANT VIGILANCE!

Gail: -half jumps out of skin- Ah haha~ Yeah. So the first review is from krazykook. Thanks for the review. Yes, Melanie is quite an oddity. I don't know what to make of her.

Mad-Eye: Death Eater.

Gail: Really?

Mad-Eye: Yes. She's definitely into the dark arts. The information Dumbledore gave me said so.

Gail: I see... Yes, he does seem to know everything, doesn't he... I'm not sure how "nice" he is, though.

Mad-Eye: He's respectable.

Gail: But not always so kind. I get the feeling that his transparent niceties are meant to hide things.

Mad-Eye: CONSTANT VIGILANCE!

Gail: Yes yes... The next reviewer is MaxRideRox. Yes, Jo isn't very high on Sirius' priority list, is she? But anyway, good luck with your real somebody. Mr. Moody, what do you say to her?

Mad-Eye: Constant vigilance.

Gail: What he means is observe him and plan out a course of action that will make both of you feel more comfortable. Like... sharing cookies with him and his friends, or something.

_Rue: Sorry, Lily won't be getting into any fights. She's too much of a goody-good. She did throw a vase, though. Does that count? _

Gail: The next review is from Musik Drache. Thanks for the vote of confidence. Even during the most boring chapters. Haha~

Mad-Eye: Constant... Vigilance.

Gail: The last review is from Fred-Weasley-Isn't-Dead. Flink is so unbearably cute, isn't she? She deserves her own story. I hope you enjoy the next few chapters. Summer with Flink, horray!

-Mad-Eye has fallen asleep, but his eye keeps watch just in case-

Gail: That's all the time I have. See you next chapter!


	47. Chapter 47

**Chapter 47**

"Relax!" Remus' hand pressed into her shoulders, forcing her to remain in her horizontal positioning on the bed.

"But Remus-" Gail half-whined, staring up at her boyfriend with pleading eyes. For some reason, he kept himself from meeting her eyes.

"Just... calm down," Remus sighed heavily, releasing her shoulders when she had stopped trying to force herself upright, "the instructors will probably test you when you... can actually lift your head up without bleeding."

Gail opened her mouth to retort back, but her train of thought was disrupted when the double doors to the hospital wing were flung open. Furiously, Lily Evans stormed in. With her red hair ablaze around her, she was the vision of a goddess. Of course, the look in her green eyes confirmed Gail's thoughts; her temper had not calmed down at all. Lily didn't say a word, instead she glared down at Gail.

"Good morning, Lily," Gail spoke to the redhead, half wanting to look away but too scared to do so.

"Good?" The redhead practically breathed fire down on Gail.

"Well, I figure it must be pretty good, considering my two favourite people came to visit me," Gail joked weakly.

"I thought you told me that you put a curse on Rosier that he wouldn't be able to... To..." Lily seemed to harden for a moment as she gestured at Gail's face, "you said he wouldn't be able to use spells around you."

"Ah, I said he wouldn't be able to aim properly. See, I think he was aiming for my neck," Gail explained, "as you've probably noticed, he was quite far off. McGonagall wasn't off when she thought that Rosier was aiming to kill."

Lily seemed to be shaking with fury for a moment, unable to speak.

"Don't worry so much," Gail did her best to placate the redhead, who would have none of it, "he won't be around much longer if the whole fiasco gets pinned on him."

That seemed to placate Lily somewhat. Her temper wasn't completely gone from her voice, though, "Gail, you promised me that it wouldn't happen again."

"Yeah, and now I've promised Remus not do do any dangerous stunts," Gail commented bitterly, "you two are trying to make my last year at Hogwarts boring, aren't you?"

"I'm sure it'll be anything but boring," Remus spoke sullenly. He had inched away from Lily and had intelligently kept quiet. Lily seemed to regard him approvingly for a moment. After that, Lily gave the topic up.

"Your finals have been rescheduled," Lily informed Gail stonily, "Care of Magical Creatures tomorrow night, Herbology the next night and Charms the night after that."

"Oh, so I have something to look forward to," Gail bit her tongue to keep from saying anything else. It was good of the instructors to reschedule, but she wasn't particularly looking forward to the exams. She would scrape a pass in Charms, if she was lucky.

Madam Pomfrey came bustling over a few minutes later to check on Gail's bandaging. She deemed that her patient was getting too excited by her visitors and needed rest. Without a warning to Gail's two visitors, the matronly woman forced them both out of the Hospital wing. Another round of the blood replenishing potion was forced on Gail, who was soon bored stiff with nothing left to do but sleep.

* * *

Later that night, Madam Pomfrey allowed Gail to leave the Hospital wing after deeming that the gash had healed completely. Of course, the dusky haired girl was still a little bit off. She was fatigued from sleeping too much with several kinks in her back because of the bed. Oddly enough, Pomfrey had even fixed Gail's hair, growing out the part that had been hacked off by Rosier. Tired, even after sleeping for such a long period, Gail stumbled back to the common room. Upon entering it, she was greeted by an eerie silence.

"Oye Gail!" James' voice greeted her first, "lookin' good. Sirius thought you'd have a mark on your face, but it looks like Pomfrey did her job properly."

"Ha." Gail smiled faintly over at the messy haired boy, "how much did you bet on my face?"

"My full savings," James grinned cheekily as he spoke. His warmth seemed to radiate through the room and beckon her over. Strangely enough, a few of the boys' followers moved to make room for Gail. Thankfully, Gail sat down next to the fire, resting her head against Remus' shoulder. He looked up from his book for a moment, only long enough to greet her with a nod

That was when the whispering started. It felt like Gail had hundreds of eyes following her. She couldn't even imagine what they were saying; if it was good or bad. It was just starting to make her uncomfortable when Lily made an appearance. Under her withering gaze, the rest of the Griffindors seemed to shrink away. There was no way anyone but Lily would make head girl the next year. The redhead made a beeline for Gail.

"Don't nag her, Evans," James warned her peacefully enough, "she's tired."

Lily's face lit up with embarrassment or anger, it was hard to tell sometimes. She opened her mouth to protest, but no sound came out. It was like the redhead had forgotten how to speak for a moment.

"Like she can rest around you, Potter. Your big head keeps smacking her whenever you turn around," Lily finally managed to snap back at him before turning to Gail impatiently.

"Where's everyone else?" Gail asked in a tired tone. She was exhausted, but not tired, "Jo, Amber and Avalon?"

"They're dealing with Melanie," Lily explained, catching both James' and Sirius' attention in one go, "they caught her sneaking some of your things out of the room this morning."

"What're they doing to her?" Sirius asked, avidly interested in the whole ordeal, "stringing her up by her ankles?"

"Only you're cruel enough to do that," Lily snapped at him. Sirius smiled sheepishly in response. The redhead seemed to clench her teeth for a minute, debating whether or not to say any more.

"I need to have a talk with Melanie, as well," Gail spoke darkly. When she noticed that the others were staring incredulously at her because of her offhand comment, she did her best to smile as she explained, "Flink told me that she kicked one of the other house elves quite hard when the elf was trying to prevent Melanie from stealing."

"Melanie really has been nicking things, then?" James stared at her, "that's dirty..."

"You're exaggerating," Lily forced herself onto the couch, squished up next to Gail, before she continued to talk, "our stuff always made its way back into the room, even if she borrowed it."

"That's because the house elves would confiscate it and place it back in the room," Gail commented dryly, unaware of the menacing presence that had drifted down the stairs.

"You really are horrible," Melanie spat, "spreading lies about me again, Forester?"

"Are they lies?" Gail, too tired to stand up and greet the hostile blonde, turned to face her. Melanie was covered in dark makeup and her hair was dyed a strange shade of brown. She was glaring daggers at Gail and didn't say anything in response, Gail figured she was too slow to think of anything.

"I heard Evan Rosier cut you up nicely," Melanie sneered, a wicked smile forming on her face, "serves you right, you little _thief_."

"Oh, good come back. Did it hurt your pea-sized brain to think of it?" Gail yawned, bored with the whole encounter. She noticed Lily's hand sliding out of her pocket. Before Gail could utter a warning, the redhead hit Melanie with a forceful, non-verbal spell. Sprawled out across the floor, Melanie wasn't moving.

"Lily, you didn't have to kill her," Gail gaped at the redhead. It was strange that no one in the common room moved to help Melanie, "is she breathing?"

"She's fine," Sirius surmised, "though she'll wake up with a huge headache."

"Wicked," James admired Lily's handiwork approvingly. Lily seemed quite embarrassed, but also quite pleased with herself. She probably hadn't mean to hit Melanie so hard; her temper was truly alarming sometimes.

* * *

"Well done, Miss Forester!" Flitwick beamed at her. After the makeup exam. Gail had the distinct feeling that her test had been made easier out of sympathy. There was no way she could have passed without the few hints that Flitwick gave her.

"Thank you, professor," Gail smiled bashfully at him.

"Oh yes, yes. I look forward to seeing you next year, Miss Forester. Keep working hard over the summer," Flitwick handed her a slip of paper with her grade on it. It was a pass, but Gail felt that she would have done better had she practised with Lily for a few hours. Unfortunately, Lily had been rather preoccupied over the last few days with thoughts of a certain handsome boy.

Exiting the classroom, Gail nearly tripped right over a long, lean leg. Looking up, her eyes caught in Remus' amused orbs. He immediately looked away, though, as if he had been scolded by her look.

"You didn't have to wait for me," Gail laughed joyfully, attempting to snatch one of his hands. Masterfully, he moved so that her attempt failed.

"Oh, but there's no better way to get your attention." Remus spoke in a cheerful way, but Gail could tell that he was forcing himself, "you're done all of your exams, right?"

"Yes," Gail answered warily, slightly distracted the total lack of eye contact. She had become unaccustomed to the distant, troubled Remus of the past, "I passed charms... With a very average grade."

"Well, just work harder on that next year, right?" Remus' pained smile drifted across his face for a moment, "this might be the last chance you get, since we'll be leaving Hogwarts in a few days. Let's go practice your..."

"Can I try flying?" Gail asked impatiently, ignoring the mellow atmosphere, "I really would like to try it when you're around, because I know nothing will happen to me. I feel safe with you around."

At that, Remus went slightly pink in the face and his frown deepened, "I suppose so. I would rather be able to keep an eye on you when you try it."

"Can we try it outside?" Gail persisted in pleading with Remus. She wanted to feel like a bird for once, even if it was just for a little while. Although his shoulders seemed to stiffen, he finally nodded.

"Fine," Remus said grudgingly, "but don't try to fly too far. I don't want to have to get Prongs up on his broom to look for you."

"Yes, darling," Gail leaned in and gave him a quick peck. He seemed rather stoney tonight, though. The boy refused to return her affection, for whatever reason. Even as they walked along the corridor the the doors, Gail had the feeling that something was not right with her boyfriend. She was practically pulling him along like a horse drawn carriage. The silence between them stretched on for too long. When they made it outside, Gail dropped his hands. That seemed to snap him out of his daze.

"What's wrong?" Remus was always the first to ask her. His concern was touching.

"You've been distant with me tonight, Remus," Gail commented impatiently, "if you're not into doing this outside, we could go back in."

"It's nothing," Remus quickly covered, "it's just a full moon in a few nights."

Gail hazarded a glance towards the sky. Remus was right; the moon was hanging with a very slim sliver missing. She had a feeling that wasn't the only reason for Remus suddenly distancing himself from her. He hadn't treated her like this before, before or after a full moon.

"Are you interested in another girl?" Gail asked quietly after a moment, eyes not moving from the silver orb in the sky, "I wouldn't blame you if you have started fancying someone like Avalon... She's a sweet girl, and she's really studious."

"I don't fancy anyone else," Remus rejected that quickly, "and I happen to think that _you_ are studious. You're brilliant, Gail. I don't know how you can go from being so hurt that you look like you're dying to being full of life and... well, brilliant."

"I don't feel brilliant," Gail laughed awkwardly, "to tell you the truth, I've been fatigued since leaving the Hospital wing and the exams really didn't help..."

"But still..." Remus' voice was strained slightly. Gail hadn't noticed, but over the year, his voice had deepened a bit and had become slightly more melodic. Well, others would probably call his voice hoarse or rough, but Gail found it soothing. Until he said it.

"You're too good, Gail. I can't keep up."

That caught Gail's full attention. Swinging around, she studied Remus in the light of the moon. He looked weary and somewhat celestial, "Remus..."

"No, don't even start," Remus frowned deeply at her but the pained look didn't disappear from his eyes. He hesitated for a moment while a look of suppressed longing passed over his eyes, "I think we need a little break. You've been feeling the same way, too, haven't you?"

Gail opened her mouth to protest. She did not want to take a break from Remus, whatever he was saying, "no, Remus, I don't feel that way. I want to be with you."

"Look... this summer is going to be long and I know you'll be busy... Just like this year, you were busy. Too busy for our relationship."

"Remus," Gail tried to stop him from talking. The look in his eyes said he wouldn't, though. She couldn't stop him.

"We'll see how things work out," Remus finished gently, taking a few steps away from Gail. There was definitely something he wasn't saying, but the pain in Gail's chest made it fairly hard for her to focus on anything. She never thought that their relationship would deteriorate to this point.

Part of Gail knew that Remus still felt romantic feelings for her. She knew that she should hold on. Cling to him like girls would cling to Sirius during a break-up. Somewhere along the line, though, Gail's pride tossed a brick into the cogs. She knew she wouldn't be able to cling to him, not even when the pain was unbearable. She was doing all she could to resist crying as Lily had- as Flink had. At the moment, she felt very much like a house elf who wanted to smack her own head against the wall for behaving badly in her relationship with Remus.

Remus was patiently waiting for her answer. It was all she could do to give him a meek nod.

"I'd like to be alone," Gail spoke sullenly, feeling that her voice was different from her own. It wasn't natural. Thankfully, Remus nodded and vanished back into the school. In a wave of emotions, Gail swept herself into her animagus form. Without giving it a second though, Gail burrowed her delicate form into a crevice along the wall of the school. She couldn't cry as a bird, but she could sing.

And mournfully did she sing until the bright light of morning.

* * *

James had been awake since early in the morning because of his loud roommates who had effectively woken him with the sounds of their own dreams. Instead of trying to fall back asleep, James was watching Lily's name walk around on the map that he and his friends had finished making the previous year. He noticed how she was moving quite quickly through the school, as if she was searching for something. James had no idea what the girl was looking for, but she appeared frantic. Just as he was about to get out of bed, a noise caught his attention.

It looked like Remus was having a nightmare again. He was thrashing wildly in his sleep and mumbling a string of incoherent gibberish. From what James could see, Moony was covered in sweat. Was he dreaming about the werewolf that sealed his fate again? Or was he dreaming that the wolf in him had taken over? James didn't know for sure. Remus was a bit of a closed book to him.

It took James a few minutes to find some mostly clean clothes to throw on. He checked that his sweater smelled OK, even after sitting under a pile of his quidditch gear. He threw his robes on over top of his clothes and shoved the map in after giving it one last, cursory glance to see where Lily was. By estimation, he knew that he would be able to meet up with her near the Great Hall. Messing up his hair as an afterthought, James exited the dorm room.

He was too cool to rush, though, so he used some of the shortcuts he'd memorized over the years. He arrived in front of the Great Hall just in time to see the redhead swing herself around the corner. Her face was flush with worry, and for once she didn't seem completely annoyed to see him. She walked right up to him and started talking.

"Have you seen Gail?"

It took James a moment to comprehend her words. Shaking his head, he responded as cooly as he could, considering just how happy he was that the girl of his dreams had started a conversation with him, "no, I haven't... Why?"

"She didn't come back to the dorms last night. I thought she would be fine, since Remus was with her, so I didn't go to meet her after her charms test," Lily explained. Her emerald eyes shone with concern for her friend. At that moment, there was a sharp pain in James' stomach, or perhaps it was his heart. He really didn't like to see Lily in pain.

"That's strange. Remus was back before curfew," James scratched his chin. A little bit of stubble had formed, and he was considerably proud of it, "I'll help you look. She's probably outside."

Lily's eyes grew slightly wider and she nodded thankfully, "you're right. Maybe she stayed out too late and just fell asleep somewhere."

James nodded casually, deciding to check the map to see if his theory was right. It would serve his interests to find Gail quickly, even if he would enjoy spending time alone with his lovely flower. Somehow, his intentions had become twisted up in the past in regards to Lily. Because of his past, he was always trying his best to erase the redhead's misgivings, and today was no different.

James took charge of their efforts to find Gail. This was mostly because of his knowledge about the layout of the school. He also noticed that, while worrying, Lily had become slightly irrational. To him, there was only one place to look for Gail; outside. Lily hadn't even thought of looking outside, but he didn't blame her. After all, James had spent a rather long time perfecting his searching methods. Whether it was searching for Lily in a crowd of people or searching through the piles of things in his room, he had become quite good at finding things. He directed her towards the row of trees, asking Lily to look around there. When he was sure that Lily wasn't looking, James pulled out the map and mechanically opened it to view the grounds. Gail was quite easy to find. It looked like she had hidden herself near the wall.

Pocketing the map, James jogged over in the general direction of his friend. He paused for a moment, noticing that Gail wasn't where the map had stated she was. Quickly, he pulled it out again and examined it. Undoubtedly, the girl had taken the form of her animagus, because she wasn't visible from where he was standing.

"Gail?" James hazard a call. When there was no response, James started checking the grooves in the stone wall of the castle that were big enough for a nightingale to hide in. He almost stumbled right over the fragile looking bird when he knelt down to check a rather larger hole. Discretely, James wrapped his hands around Gail, who was limp and shaking a little bit.

"Hsst, Gail, you have to turn back," James whispered lowly, turning so that he could keep an eye on Lily, who was thoroughly searching the trees by the lake.

Sassily, Gail nipped at James' hand as if she were pecking as some seeds. It was obvious that she had no intention of changing back. Unfortunately, forcing animagus to turn back into humans was not his strong point. Remus and Sirius were far better at it.

"Don't make me take you all the way up to the dorms in my pocket, because I will. And then I'll make Remus change you back," James hissed. Gail seemed to shake even harder at that, but she still refused to change back.

Sighing, James stood up. He hadn't noticed that Lily was rushing over to him. He didn't even have time to place Gail into his pocket.

"What do you have there?" Lily asked, peeking through his fingers, "oh! What a sweet little bird. A nightingale? Where do you suppose its nest is?"

"No clue," James smiled faintly, thankful that Gail's animagus was a rather common bird, "it looks like it's hurt. I bet Gail could figure out what's wrong with it, when we find her."

"You're right. We should take it along with us," Lily smiled softly, her features warm and serene, "Gail will know what to do once we find her."

The bird in his hands trembled sadly for a moment before attacking his hand again. Yelping in shock more than pain, James immediately released his grip on her. He almost dropped the tawny little bird. Amazingly enough, though, Gail extended her wings and took off. Gracefully, she accelerated towards the forest. Amazed at what he supposed was Gail's first, successful flight test, James grinned uncontrollably.

"Oh my!" Lily gasped, not knowing that it was really her friend that had taken to the sky, "I guess the little bird was just fine after all."

"Yes, but I think I saw Gail near the edge of the forest," James commented, "thanks to that little bird."

"Let's go see," Lily, remarkably more calm now, lead the way down the hill towards the forest.

* * *

**Author Note:**

This might just be the first chapter of the second part of the story. Maybe. Remus is definitely hiding something. Dun dun dun~.

Things have really been slow for the last few chapters, so I've tried spicing it up a bit. I'm wondering if you guys like seeing part of the story from James' point of view? I will probably have a good portion of the story from his perspective from now on, because I want to show you guys the full effects of the first wizarding war.

Perhaps you've also noticed that the Comment Gallery has been becoming short in the last three chapters. I don't have much time to continue with the gallery, but I promise I will respond to your comments.

Okay! This chapter was about a page longer than the others. I hope you enjoyed it.

-Rue

* * *

**krazykook**: Oh, I don't think blood is disgusting. It's what keeps us alive. Yes, very important. But I would agree that apparating is like being sucked into a vacuum, isn't that how Harry describes it? Gail was pretty sick afterwards, though, and she didn't even move far enough to feel the full effects.

**LaurenB16**: Thanks for reviewing! Romance! Hopefully, I will appease you! If not, I apologize! Evil? Oh no, I haven't even included Voldemort yet. He's the worst of them all. Haha. 

**Apocolips**: Yes, it was slow. That's why I'm doing what I can to spice it up. I hyped it up, right? That's okay, though, I just want people to be fully prepared for the later chapters. I'm slowly working up my nerve to write some great fight scenes.

**Musik Drach**: Oh, don't pity Gail! Really. She has quite a good, simple life. Even if the boys "betray" her every once in a while.


	48. Chapter 48

**Chapter 48**

Gail rested against a tree at the edge of the forest as she waited for Lily and James to reappear. In her moment of melancholy, she had completely forgotten that the redhead would become worried about her. While it was important for her to ponder things over by herself, Gail didn't have the right to cause her friend to worry.

"Gail!" Lily swooped toward her. The redhead was trying to act like she hadn't been perturbed by Gail's disappearance and was almost believable, "did you stay out here all night?"

"Yeah," Gail smiled wearily at her friend before turning her eyes to James, "what happened to your hand?"

"Oh, nothing. It's just a scratch," came his distant response. His eyes didn't move from Lily's smiling face. He adopted a soft smile of his own. Lily turned to James so that Gail couldn't see her face anymore.

"Is it painful?" Lily asked sweetly, taking hold of James' wrist so that she could examine the two scratches on his fingers.

"Oh.. yeah, feels like I'll lose my fingers," James did his best to make a face full of agony.

Cooing over his injured fingers, Lily brought out her wand and healed the scratches. Gail felt like she was hallucinating for a moment; there was no way that the redhead could really be acting nice to James Potter, was there? It seemed like the two teenagers were holding hands for a long time, staring into one another's eyes. Gail would have laughed, had she not been moody and depressed from the previous night. She cleared her throat, causing Lily to drop James' appendage.

"So why did you stay out all night?" Lily asked Gail curiously. The only response the redhead received was a quiet mumble.

"Pardon?" Lily asked sweetly enough, though there was a gleam in her eyes, "I didn't quite catch that."

"I said: 'Remus wants to take a break from our relationship.' Happy?" Gail snapped angrily at Lily, who looked somewhat like she'd been slapped.

"He what?" James stared at her with eyes wide, "Moony wouldn't do that. Couldn't have..."

"Sure, don't believe me. Go ask him." Furiously, Gail swung around and launched a fist at the tree she had been resting against. Angry tears formed in her eyes, half from the pain in her fist, half from the pain in her chest.

"Oh, Gail..." Lily wrapped an arm around Gail, pulling her away from the blasted tree. James, on the other hand, was quite speechless.

"I'm sure Lupin has his reasons," Lily spoke softly and her eyes shone with wisdom, "it's not like he said things were over between you two forever, right?"

"No..." Gail mumbled, sighing heavily.

After a moment, James finally spoke, "Gail, do me a favour and keep this from Padfoot, okay? They've just got over their fight with one another. I don't want Paddy to snap at Moony for what he's done..."

"I understand," Gail muttered, "can we talk about something else, please? My failure at love is getting old."

Lily released Gail and scratched the back of her neck for a moment, "oh, I guess you didn't see the headline of the Prophet on Monday morning... It's caused an uproar, though."

"Hm." Gail wasn't really interested in anything the Prophet printed. They had long since stopped printing anything important, out of fear or repercussion.

"I saved that article," James said with a nod, "I heard that anyone connected with it went missing after it was published."

That caught Gail's attention, "what was it about?"

Lily dropped her voice low, as if she was worried about being overhead, "well, the majority of the article was about resisting the Death Eater's regime. Near the end of the article, there was a bit about how the werewolves have sided with them."

"The werewolves?" Gail asked, eyes wide. Everything suddenly clicked in her head. The pain in her chest eased away as she started to understand what had happened.

"They're being used," James explained, "as a threat or something... Anyway, Voldemort probably didn't want that information leaked."

Lily nodded, approving of James' explanation. They seemed to click over the topic, and the two of them continued to converse about the Death Eaters. Gail zoned out, though, more interested in her own thoughts. She had been given more clarity in the last few minutes than she had throughout the night. She eventually noted that she was in the Great Hall. She had lost track of Lily and James, but that was fine. She needed some space to ponder thing over.

* * *

James found his heart skipping along as he actually sat with Lily for breakfast. Part of him was happy that none of the other marauders were present for breakfast, making them able to eat in peace. Gail had wandered off, much to Lily's dismay. James had a nagging sensation in the back of his mind, distracting him from his small victory, though. It took him a moment to figure out what was needed to get the job done.

"We need to get Gail to talk to Lupin," Lily was saying as she leaned across the table and took a piece of toast, "she's obviously still _mooning_ over Remus, I think they need to have a talk and get things straightened out."

"Might be hard, though," James scratched his chin, pretending that he hadn't looked at her chest when she was draped over the table.

"We could easily get them into the same compartment on the train back," Lily spoke quietly, leaning close to him to explain her plan, "if we could get their wands and then lock them in."

"Good idea... but how do we get their wands?" James tapped his foot in thought, "I guess we could use some kind of distraction and nick them."

"You can handle that. It's what you're good at, right?" Lily frowned at him, but he knew she meant well enough.

"Yes, I'll handle get Sirius to cause a little ruckus," James nodded, "something to get both of them distracted. You'll nick Gail's wand and then bring her over to our compartment?"

"Mmhm," Lily mumbled in agreement around a bite of toast. James couldn't help but admire how cute the redhead was when she was eating. It was unfortunate that he hadn't been able to spend more meals with her. She finished eating quite quickly and turned to stare patiently at him. James realized that he had been so fascinated with Lily that he hadn't even grabbed a thing to eat when his stomach let loose a huge growl. Wolfing a piece of bacon down, James couldn't help but smile. When he was finished eating, he turned to stare back at Lily.

"We make a good team," James commented cheerfully. Tossing the redhead a wink. Lily promptly rolled her eyes and sighed.

* * *

The train ride was dull. The sky was black and rolled almost constantly with lightning. As soon as the train left the Hogsmeade station, the sky opened up and poured heavy sheets of rain. Droplets of rain collected on the outside of the window. Gail was too focused on her own thought process to pay much attention to anything in the room. She ignored Lily's warmth. For some reason, the redhead had sat quite close to her, but Gail didn't move away. She supposed that Lily was feeling gloomy, or something. The other girls had decided to sit in different compartments. Amber was with boyfriend, but Gail wasn't sure where the other girls were.

It wasn't long before a loud explosion erupted from the hallway. Wide eyed, Lily jumped up and swung the compartment door open. She seemed to stick her head out for a moment before turning around.

"I think someone got hurt out there, let's go help them, Gail," Lily spoke in a half whisper before pulling Gail out of the compartment by her arm.

"What?" Gail gasped and looked both ways down the hall. She didn't have enough time to pull her wand out. It was lucky that she didn't see anyone that was injured. Lily kept pulling her arm through a cloud of black smoke. Before Gail could get her bearings, Lily roughly shoved her and then closed a compartment door in her face.

Angrily, Gail stomped one of her feet and attempted to pull the door open. It was locked, likely by a spell, "Lily Evans! What's the meaning of this?"

"They're quite clever, aren't they?" Remus' scratchy voice drawled quietly from behind her. Turning around, Gail's dark eyes fell on a sight that made her stomach sink. He looked like he hadn't slept in a while and he was quite green. It was definitely a full moon in a few days. Undoubtedly, the wolf was a little high in him at the moment. She didn't have anything to say to him, it seemed like her voice was stuck in her throat.

"Got your wand?" Remus asked bitterly, diverting his eyes and staring out the window, "mine was nicked while I was asleep."

Gail searched her pockets for a moment before shaking her head furiously, "it looks like Lily nicked mine, too."

"Great," Remus sighed heavily, causing his breath to fog up the window.

"Don't give me that tone. It's not my fault, it's your friends'," Gail snapped at Remus. Within an instant, he was standing in front of her and breathing down at her.

"Gail," Remus' warning tone flooded through her. She felt a wave of guilt; it wasn't certain that the marauders had orchestrated the whole thing, she only knew Lily was in on it. The guilt, mixed with anger, has a caustic effect.

"Lily wouldn't do this on her own, someone had to cause the smoke cloud outside. One of _Padfoot's_ tricks," Gail growled up at him, "so don't even hint that she was doing it alone."

"I didn't..." Remus started, taking a step back. His temper had evaporated as quickly as it had come. In any case, he seemed taken aback by her anger. That only served to ignite her emotions further. There was a moment of rough silence between them. Gail took a deep breath to be able to force everything out.

"Remus Lupin, I love you," Gail said quickly, her eyes still burning with fury, "and... well, forget your break. You know that I'm going to stick to you worse than a permanent sticking charm and it doesn't matter what you say. I'm sorry I ever agreed to the break, it was extremely foolish of me."

That blew Remus' expression away, leaving him staring blankly at her. It took a moment for his sad smile to form, but when it did, Gail felt her heart thaw. It was like she had been unable to feel without Remus. She felt like crying from relief.

"Gail..." Remus started in a patronizing tone, attempting to wipe his own smile off of his face.

"No, Remus," Gail held a hand up, "let me continue... You have to know that I don't care what the rest of the werewolves in the world do. They could dress in tutus and parade across roofs, and I wouldn't bat an eye..."

"I figured as much, but if I'm found out..." Remus' strained smile was worrisome to her.

"Oh, don't be a git- anyone who knows you, knows you'd never join the Death Eaters with the other werewolves. I know you'd never betray us. We're a family, us Griffindors. You'd never become one of them, as surely as I'd never," Gail folded her arms across her chest. The only response the teenage boy gave her was a smile.

"Remus..." Gail started again, "I promise I'll be more attentive to you. I never meant you to feel neglected."

"I know," Remus stepped forward and patted her arm awkwardly, "we were both quite busy, weren't we? I was just using that as an excuse."

"Excuse! Excuses, you mean!" Gail frowned at him as she thought of something, "how about we make a promise to set aside some time for one another- say, Saturday night, except on full moons? Whether we decide to review or whatever else."

"That's a good idea," Remus smiled thoughtfully, brushing a hand up her arm with infinite tenderness. His soft, brown eyes swam with relief and softness.

"No break," Gail commanded, stepping into Remus' personal space in order to place him in a tight hug.

"No break," Remus confirmed, "although you would be way more safe away from me..."

"Safe, bored. What's with your fascination with making my life dull?" Gail joked, prodding her chin into his shoulder before retracting herself from the embrace, "don't do it again, Remus... My heart won't survive if you do."

"I won't," Remus looked thoughtful for a moment, "how did you find out about the werewolves? It was in the paper while you were asleep in the Hospital wing."

"James and Lily were talking about it... Some boyfriend you are, you're supposed to keep me updated!" Gail plopped herself down on the same side that Remus had been sitting. The cushioned bench was still warm, "it was a idiotic thing for you to worry about, you know."

"So I've heard, from you and the others," Remus sat down next to her and pulled out a chocolate frog. He offered it to her, but when she refused, he busied himself with eating it.

"Mm, so I'd rather like it if you came to visit me over the summer," Gail murmured quietly, catching the boy's attention.

"Oh right, you're renting your own flat-?"

"House, actually," Gail corrected, "it's quite small, though... And it might be a little lonely with just me and Flink there."

Remus' face lightened up significantly, "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to come visit you. Where's it located?"

"Mm, just south of Dartford. I'll post you the exact address later, so you can apparate," Gail smiled faintly, "in other words, the middle of nowhere."

"Ah!" Remus shot up like he had been stuck with a pin. He started rifling through one of the bags that the boys had left in the compartment. Within seconds, he pulled out a wand and brandished it to Gail.

"Sirius left his wand here so that he could carry more toy bombs," Remus explained, "looks like I'll be able to get them back, once they decide to reappear."

He wiped the smile from his face, "here's the plan..."

* * *

James leaned against the wall as suavely as he could. He was focused on enjoying the mischievous smile on Lily's beautiful face. Her emerald eyes shone with passion. The dim corridor didn't let James view her smile as he would have liked. After about fifteen minutes, the commotion within the compartment quieted down.

"Think they've killed one another?" James joked quietly, turning his eyes to the compartment door.

"Highly unlikely," Lily retorted, "ten to one, Gail has killed him with her bare hands."

James opened his mouth to protest, but Padfoot came trotting down the hall with a jovial smile on his face. Wormtail trailed behind him quite a bit slower. The two had probably dropped a few dungbombs way down the hallway, James could almost smell it.

"So tell me why I had to use up my store of joke bombs?" Sirius turned his grey eyes back and forth between Lily and James, "did I miss something?"

"We're just mediating between two... people," Lily commented dryly, a look of disdain on her face. She turned quickly, causing her dark red hair to spill over her shoulder, "you could probably open the door now, Potter. I'm going back to my compartment. Have a good summer."

With that, Lily left the two boys standing in the tight hallway. James sighed heavily, pulling out his own wand and removing the locking charm he'd placed on the compartment door. Without a word of explanation to his friends, James slid the door open and stepped inside only to be promptly thrown backwards through the door.

"What the...?" Sirius poked his head into the door, and received a bloody nose. Undoubtedly, Remus was more than a bit angry about the whole thing. It was likely that he had meant more force behind his spells, but with Sirius' wand he couldn't operate like normal. James pealed himself off the floor and attempted to enter the compartment again.

Gail was sitting in the far corner, as far as she could from Remus. She was curled up in a ball and didn't even look up when James entered the compartment. It looked like Lily's plan hadn't worked very well. James' stomach sank; no wonder Moony wanted revenge on them. Remus was staring at James fiercely with Sirius' wand in his hand. There was nothing but stoney silence in the compartment.

"Whath going on?" Sirius asked while holding his sleeve to his nose. He looked quite concerned. James made a mental note to make it up to his best mate.

"So it was James' idea?" Gail asked sharply when she finally looked up, directing her question to Remus, who nodded sullenly. Moony got up and gestured that Sirius sit down before fixing his nose up. James sat himself as far as he could from Remus, in case he really was mad.

"Sorry, Padfoot," Moony muttered, "thought you were in on it."

"Just tell me what's going on," Sirius rubbed his nose irritably.

"We- Gail and I- had a bit of a row." Remus explained distantly, "it looks like James and Lily locked us in here so that we could settle our differences."

"Sorry mate," James interjected sheepishly. He didn't dare look at Sirius, who was probably quite annoyed at being left out of the loop. Peter slid into the compartment when the ruckus had died down. James ignored the plump boy and continued with his apology, "it was Lily's idea, I just helped her plan it all out."

"Doesn't matter," Remus settled back down next to the dusky haired girl and patted her knee, "we solved our difference. Thanks, Prongs."

Sirius, who had been pouting over the whole ordeal, snatched his wand back from Remus. Gail and Moony had long since melted into a chorus of laughter. Gail eventually got up and made for the door, saying that she had to go tell Lily what was what, and give the redhead what for.

"Next time, don't use my own wand against me," Sirius snapped grimly to Remus as he shoved the wand into his pocket.

* * *

**Author Note:**

I'm really looking forward to write the beginning of the war. Things are about to explode, and this story will become a lot more mature. I'm thinking that the chapters will be a bit longer.

The werewolves have teamed up with the Death Eaters... Well, they are more like weapons than members, but still... Poor Remus, they're just making things harder on him. Boo!

So here are two _trivia questions_, one based on this chapter and one from previous chapters:

Which division and sub-division of the Ministry does Gail work for?

Where is the house, that Gail is renting over the summer, approximately located?

Do all of you have midterm exams at the same time? Mine are in two weeks, so I probably won't update that Friday... We'll see. Have a great week.

-Rue

* * *

**_Reviews:_**

**Musik Drache: **I'm glad you enjoyed the part from James' perspective. Thanks for the positive reinforcement.

**Apocolips**: Thank you! Hopefully, things will continue to roll along. Cross your fingers!

**Krazykook**: Don't worry, Gail isn't that ridiculous. She understands that there's more to life than just sulking; Lily would be very upset if she went missing. Bird girl. Hehe.


	49. Chapter 49

**Chapter 49**

"_I don't think any of us started dreaming of peace. Not at the beginning, anyway..."_

_

* * *

  
_

"Wake up, Miss Gail! You're going to be late for work!"

Groaning, Gail bolted upright to see a wrinkly, brown face staring at her from the middle of the room. She tugged at the scratchy, new blankets on the bed. The room was extremely bright that morning. The pale blue curtains, which hung from the window, did little to prevent the bright rays from entering the bedroom. The room almost appeared white, except for the flowery patterns on the wallpaper. The smell of elderly people clung to the room and made Gail feel like retreating back into her warm, if not terribly soft, bed. It was just her luck that the first morning that she had off from work, the wonderful, little house elf would decide to wake her up.

"Blimey, Flink, didn't I tell you that I have today off?" Gail grunted, finally pushing the navy sheets back, off of her bronze legs. The legs on her pjama bottoms had somehow slid up her legs during the night, not that she even noticed. Instead, she hopped off the bed and shuffled along the antique carpet in her bare feet.

Flink threw herself on the ground in Gail's path, prostrating herself as an apology. Gail just offered her a pat on the head, "thanks for waking me up. Remus is due sometime today."

Without further ado, Gail wandered into the tiny bathroom of the cottage. It was lucky that there was indoor plumbing at all, really. The same, flowered wallpaper continued into the bathroom, although the carpet changed to stone. The small bathroom consisted of a shower that dripped excessively, a weathered sink, toilet with a wooden seat and an old, chipped mirror. There was hardly room to turn around between the sink and the toilet, never mind trying to undress to take a shower. Somehow, Gail managed with the things she had.

After a quick shower, Gail dried herself off and ripped a hairbrush through her damp mange of hair. She quickly rifled through the small bureau that Fright's cage was resting on top of. The first of the three drawers contained socks and other unmentionables. The next contained the rest of Gail's neatly folded clothes. The last was used as a storage container of all of her textbooks and school things. At that moment, Gail was struggling to find anything nice to wear from the second drawer. Eventually, she picked out a high necked sweater with a plaid skirt.

Her hair was almost dry by the time she entered the dank, cave-like kitchen. The window was small and the walls were pained a mud-like colour. It was vastly different from the rest of the cottage. The kitchen was so different that it looked like it had been ripped from another house and glued onto the cottage. Carefully, Gail stepped over Flink's red, cat bed as she wandered in. The smell of bacon and eggs attacked her senses.

"Breakfast?" Flink chirped, plopping a plate onto the table in front of the dusky haired girl.

"Thank you," Gail nodded politely and offered her friend a grateful smile before tucking in.

The meal was over quite quickly, with relatively little conversation. Gail couldn't very well tell the elf to stop beaming at her. Flink was entitled to her own happiness, even if it left Gail praying that Remus would arrive soon. Her heart almost leap out of her chest when a loud rap on the tiny kitchen window. Fright swooped through the window after Flink opened it. The barn owl had successfully travelled to Remus and back, so Gail offered him a piece of the cold toast that was left over.

"Who's a good little owl?" Gail cooed to her bird. She gently brushed her hand across Fright's white speckled feathers. Hooting, Fright returned the affection by bumping his head against Gail's hand. Neither elf nor human was surprised that the bird didn't bring a letter back from Remus.

As Gail was spending a few moments with the owl, Flink was busy cleaning up the dishes from the meal. Thanks to the little elf, the kitchen was spotless. The sun was just beginning to come through the window by the time Fright decided to have a nap in his cage. The peaceful monotony of the morning rolled by as Flink went about cleaning. Even though she didn't have to, the elf wouldn't sit still until all three rooms in the cottage were clean. When everything was clean, Flink would sleep or try to look after Gail as a mother would.

Three sharp knocks reverberated through the kitchen. Jumping up, Gail speed toward the door. The kitchen had a very small foyer for shoes and coats. The little welcome rug was spotless, a testament to how many people had visited the small cottage during Gail's short reign. Fumbling with the locking charm on the door, Gail eventually managed to swing the heavy, brown door open.

Standing at the top of the steps on the small porch was a group of boys that Gail hadn't expected to find. The four of them were all wearing robes, which seemed surprisingly normal to her after living at Hogwarts for six years.

"We need a place to hide for a while, Gail," Remus smiled sorely at her, taking a step forward to brush a kiss across her cheekbone.

"We kinda ticked some Death Eaters off," James ran a hand through his hair nervously, "you don't mind us staying her for a few hours, do you?"

"Not at all, come in," Gail stepped aside to allow the boys to come in, "my place isn't huge, but it'll do for a short term hideout."

The four boys skirted in and quickly removed their outer garments. Flink bounded over to help hang up their cloaks and whisky away any of the dirt from their shoes.

"Geez, Gail! For all you say, you have your own house elf," Sirius snickered, "and she's a mite bit cuter than Kreacher."

"She's on loan, Snuffles. It's not like I get to keep her with me forever, even if I'd like to," Gail explained cooly, resting a hand on Peter's shoulder. The mousey boy seemed to be quivering. Undoubtedly, he had been dragged along by his friends, even though he was scared out of his wits. "Alright, Peter? Come in and have a cup of tea. It'll help you calm down."

"Calm down?" James slid himself into one of the chairs in the kitchen, "why would he need to?"

"James Potter, be a little sympathetic. Peter isn't as brave as you are, you know," Gail scolded him as gently as she could. With a flick of her wand, a pot of tea floated over and began to heat up. In a moment, she served some tea to Peter and Remus, the only ones that wanted a drink.

"So are you going to tell me what happened?" Gail asked finally, settling herself in a chair that she summoned from her room.

"Oh yeah," James chuckled smoothly. Gail noticed that his teeth and tongue were shockingly blue, something that he was trying his best to hide. _Someone_ had obviously given him a piece of colour changing gum as a prank.

"They were terrorizing a bunch of kids," Sirius explained lazily. He leaned back in his chair and stared around the room with a rather scornful look. He was obviously not used to such sparse conditions, "first years. They've started recruiting young."

"Did they see your faces?" Gail asked mellowly. She could imagine James charging in and knocking the Death Eaters onto their bottoms.

"Don't think so, we just screwed with them enough to give the _kids_ time to get away... didn't want to take any chances, though. That's why we came here," James explained, avidly interested in the kitchen. He was acting like a tourist in a tenement. Gail couldn't decide which boy was more annoying: James who acted overly interested or Sirius who was completely disdainful.

"Well, better if they followed you here instead of to Godric's Hollow," Gail sighed heavily.

"G-Gail, m-may I use your loo?" Peter squeaked during the momentary pause in conversation.

"Yeah, the door is in my bedroom," Gail agreed, "you can't miss it."

"Thanks," Peter practically jumped up and darted into her room. The slight squeak and snapping sounds of the bathroom door closing met Gail's ears.

James, in his overly curious state, poked his head into the room after Peter. He seemed to shudder for a moment before heading back to his chair.

"Too clean," James grunted, "the floor is bare..."

"I don't really have enough _things_ to hide my floor with," Gail teased, "besides, Flink doesn't need to clean up after me."

"Batty woman," Sirius' barking laugh mocked for a moment before he continued, "that's the job of house elves. They get a kick out of it."

"She does too much for me as it is," Gail snapped at him, "honestly, Sirius. Are you incapable of feeling emptions for other living creatures? Can you imagine having to clean up after someone like James every day for the rest of your life? And then, when you die, your children will be stuck cleaning up after him and his kin, and your grandchildren... and so on, forever."

The presence of Remus' hand, resting on her arm, cooled Gail down somewhat. The last thing she wanted to was fly into a rage at the mutinous, haughty teenager, while her better half was around. That said, she really did want to smack Sirius around for disrespecting the very creatures that took care of him while he lived at Hogwarts.

"What's taking Wormy so long?" James asked after a rather stoney silence, "don't tell me your bathroom is so large that he got lost in it."

"It's not," Gail muttered, "I'll go check on him."

With one last icy glare in Sirius' direction, Gail wandered into her bedroom. The bathroom door was closed tightly, but no sound came from within. Had Peter fallen asleep on the loo? That would have been odd, that the boy would be comfortable enough in a strange, cramped bathroom to actually fall asleep. Cautiously, Gail rapped her knuckle on the faded, wooden door.

Cursing under her breath, Gail tried the door knob and found that Peter hadn't locked it.

"Peter, I'm coming in, okay? Please be decent..." Speaking as loudly as she could, Gail slid the door open. Squeezing her eyes shut, Gail took a step into the doorway. When there was no response, Gail opened her eyes.

* * *

James was enjoying himself in the small cottage. It reminded him of his family's summer cabin, only smaller. In any case, the cottage would become more welcoming after Gail had lived there for a while.

"It wouldn't hurt you to be a bit nicer, Padfoot," Remus was speaking gently, so as not to let his girlfriend hear. At this, Sirius seemed to think for a moment. A flash of guilt was all that cross his eyes as the mature teenager spoke, "she's doing her best to treat you decently."

"I am being nice. Her house is a hole," Sirius frowned at his friend.

"I like it," James smiled cheerfully, "it's cozy... Oye Gail, what's up?"

Standing at the entrance of the kitchen, Gail wasn't moving. She seemed rather shocked. Her tawny hair looked soft in the dark kitchen. She wasn't overly pretty; not compared to Lily who had oodles of charm. It wasn't that James couldn't understand what both Sirius and Remus liked about her. She had lovely, big brown eyes. Unfortunately, her nose was rather sharp and her mouth wasn't very full. She was much cuter as a bird.

Remus was at her side before Gail could even speak.

"What's wrong?" Sirius half stood up, as well.

"Peter's gone," Gail half-sobbed, worry lined her face. James jumped up from his seat

"Gone?" Sirius barked, shooting up and heading into her room. Following Sirius through the neat bedroom, James stood next to his best mate at the entrance of the bathroom. James impressed himself by not even hazarding a glance at the bed: this was no time for dirty thoughts. It was just as cramped as Gail had said and Peter was nowhere to be seen. Quickly, Sirius checked the bathroom window, but it wouldn't open at all.

"He can't apparate yet," James commented, "where could he have gone?"

"Can't apparate into or out of this house," Gail's voice droned from behind them. She was largely ignored by Sirius, whose mind was working fast.

"The bedroom window is open," Sirius said, "it doesn't open very wide, though... Chances are, he crawled halfway out of the window and the changed into his animagus."

"Peter," James sighed, "what's he up to?"

Sirius' merely shrugged callously as he answered, "just trust that he knows what he's doing. It's probably a bad idea to stay here together, anyway. Just to be safe, I can look around as Padfoot."

"Good idea. I'll go too, in case you run into trouble," James nodded briefly before turning to Gail and Remus, "you two stay here in case he comes back."

Out of the corner of his eye, James saw Sirius turn into a large, black dog. Padfoot was the owner of four large paws, a huge muzzle, two dark eyes and a tail that seemed to eternally twitch from happiness. As a person, Sirius usually acted haughty and somewhat snobbish. It was strange that Padfoot's real personality was friendly, loyal and all of the other good words James could think of to describe his best mate.

James quickly changed into his animagus, too. He felt a little tingling and a sensation like he was being pulled and he became conscious of how much heavier his head seemed. Almost all of the feeling in his fingers and toes disappeared as his hooves formed. His eyes became sharper, as did his other senses. It took a moment for him to adjust to seeing from the sides of his head. The first few steps were always awkward, but James quickly recovered as was able to run off after Padfoot.

"Wow, never thought I'd get to see James transform," Gail's voice sounded in awe as he darted through the front door. Gail was impressed, and that made his ego flare up for a moment. Until he remembered that Lily didn't like his ego at all.

Padfoot caught Wormtail's scent easily, so all James had to do was trail along behind the dog and watch for any danger. Gail's bit of property seemed to extend quite far past the tiny cottage. It took them a while to make it to the edge of it. Padfoot went under a white fence, still on Peter's trail. James wasn't so lucky to be able to go under. Instead, he had to take a running start and do his best to hop over the fence.

That was the reason why he'd become more agile, especially on his broom, over the years. Running around in his animagus form during full moons helped him gain muscles that wouldn't get trained any other way. He was easily faster Padfoot and could almost keep up with Moony's sheer speed.

Padfoot seemed to slow down for a moment. The black dog crouched in a patch of long grass and became totally still, like he was hunting something. It took James a moment to realize that Peter was sitting in the middle of the lawn, looking quite complacent with himself. The plump boy seemed to be enjoying what looked like a whole pie, straight from the tin. Before he could even look up from his meal, Padfoot pounced.

When the snarling ball of anger jumped on him, Peter seized up and dropped the remnants of the pie on the ground. Of course, Padfoot didn't really bite him, but the terrified boy seemed to think that the mad dog really might do him in. He practically wet himself out of terror. It was as if he didn't recognize Padfoot.

"Oye, Peter," James drawled as he emerged from his animagus, "are you thick or what? Sneaking out here to eat some muggle's..."

Padfoot growled rather viciously, as if in agreement with James. It took a moment for James to realize that his mate wasn't growling at Peter. He was turned around and staring back towards Gail's small cottage. Following the dog's gaze, James nearly jumped out of his skin.

Fire licked at the edges and walls of the cottage and across the roof. Nothing else seemed particularly wrong, except that both of James' friends were still inside. Why hadn't Remus noticed that the house was on fire? He was usually the first to notice danger of any kind. It was quite strange that he hadn't forced Gail out of the burning cottage yet.

James planted a hand on the fence and leaped over it with ease and ran with haste towards the burning building. Tugging his wand free as he went, James was met with an extremely hot fire when he got there.

"_Aguamenti maxima_," James forced a huge amount of water out of the end of his wand. The force of the spell was so strong that he felt himself being pushed backwards a bit. Within seconds, the fire was completely out. All that remained of the fire was out was the charcoal outside of the house. Steam drifted into the sky. The smell of the extinguished fire offended James' nose and stung his eyes. It took him a moment to realize that Sirius had run into the house. Without another thought to Peter's whereabouts and without glancing at the burned exterior, James followed his friend into the cottage.

"What's going on?" Gail asked, wide eyed at the state the two boys were in.

"Your measly cottage was on burning," Sirius snapped at her, "bloody little fire hazard."

"It... what?" Gail jumped up and ran out of the cottage. She gasped out of horror when she made it outside.

Flink, who had been napping on her bed for the most part, looked up and yawned, "fire repellant charm on the inside. Must protect Miss Gail. Oh yes... That's Flink's job."

Remus on the other hand, stared darkly at the door, "it was a bad idea to come here. Undoubtedly, the Death Eaters followed us, and probably thought to give us a little _warning_."

With that, Remus got up and followed Gail out of the door. He seemed to rub her shoulder for a moment, from what James could see, before helping her to repair the burn damage. It was only a superficial burn, so it would be easy enough to fix. It wouldn't be so easy to fix the paranoia that was quite evident in Gail's eyes.

* * *

**Author Note:**

This update is a bit late in the day. Sorry about that. I had a midterm from 7-10pm on Thursday, and when I got home, I couldn't write for the life of me! Honestly. I'm surprised this chapter got finished. Whew.

Thoughts? Opinions? Peter is the scum of the universe?

James is a tourist in a tenement: which is the worst kind of living arrangement that you can even imagine. I'll leave it up to you guys to digest what that really means.

-Rue

* * *

**Apocolips**: Somehow, Sirius always gets the best lines. I thought he was quite funny too- he kind of wrote himself into the whole last chapter.

**Krazykook**: Yes, they're together, but there's never a moment of... peace? James and Lily: I'm looking forward to it! Real romance. Hehe

**xxGrimLullaby**: Wow! Thank you, so much. You have no idea how cheerful your review made me. I couldn't stop smiling for a day, straight. Thank you! Thank you! You made up for not reviewing before. I'm glad you're enjoying the story, and I would like to read your little ficlet when you post it. I do have good news for you, though. If you enjoy the action moments, there will be a lot more in the later chapters... and the exciting parts tend to make the chapters somewhat longer... Or maybe they seem shorter... Anyway, if you'd like to talk, just send me a PM or email.

**Musik Drache**: Blue mouth is good revenge? Although I don't say who did it, you know only Remus could pull something clever enough to get past James... Because Sirius wouldn't.... right?


	50. Chapter 50

**Chapter 50**

"... In any case, you can't live here alone."

Gail was too worn out to disagree. Half-heartedly, she bobbed her head in agreement. She wasn't really listening to James' reasoning. He had gone off on a tangent about how the Death Eaters could probably do worse than singeing the cottage.

"But I really don't want bother your parents, James," Gail interrupted the messy haired youth.

"Ah no, I was thinking that one of us could stay here with you over the summer," James nodded at her for a moment. He seemed to backtrack after he received a withering glare from Sirius, "we could even take turns, even. Moony can't stay all month, my parents would get worried if I stayed for more than a week, and... well..."

"I hate it here," Sirius stated grumpily, "don't know why we have to stick around. Found Wormtail."

"Honestly, Padfoot," Remus sighed heavily, "it's our fault that Gail's in danger. It's our job to make sure nothing happens to her."

"You're only saying that because she'll blow your..."

James coughed rather loudly to drown Sirius' rude comment out. Remus and Sirius seemed to glare at one another for a few moments. Remus couldn't hold the withering stare, though. He was unable to do little more than many Sirius feel guilty. Because of this, Gail decided to pitch in on James and Remus' side.

"You don't have to do anything, Black," Gail said icily, "it's beyond you to take responsibility for something that's your fault, right? Too scared that you might have to duel a few Death Eaters?"

Sirius' grey eyes sparkled in the faint light of the kitchen at the mention of dueling, "you're on, Forester, but only if I get to duel them when they come."

"Sure. I could use a guard dog," Gail shrugged nonchantly. It was settled. Even though Sirius was smirking like he had won the debate, a dawn of recognition soon passed over his face. Gail had played his ego like an instrument and he was not happy about it.

"Good so... Remus will stay over first, right? The full moon last week," James decided quickly, offering Sirius a consoling look. He then turned to offer Remus a cheeky wink. His wink was pointedly ignored.

"That's fine, I'm sure my parents will understand. I'll hop back home to grab some clothes," Remus agreed, pointedly turning his soft, brown eyes to Gail as if questioning whether this was fine.

"We'll stay here until you get back, then," James nodded peacefully. Remus quickly pulled his cloak and shoes on and apparated off of the front porch. After he had gone, James and Sirius were staring at each other, as if they were sending signals to one another.

"So where did Peter go?" Gail asked dryly, trying her best to ignore the interchange between the two boys.

"He's fine," Sirius snapped, radiating annoyance as if Gail had no right to ask about Peter.

"Oh?"

"He's probably still sitting out there by himself... Don't worry, we'll drop him off at home when we leave," James smiled passively, "have you heard from Lily?"

"She wanted to come visit," Gail scratched her collarbone before shaking her head, "but that might not be so smart now. Sorry, James."

"S'fine," James sighed heavily as he looked towards the front door, that had been left open, "oh, looks like Moony is back. We'd better get going."

"Ah, okay. When should I expect one of you back?" Gail went to the front door and retrieved both boys cloaks. She then gave James Peter's cloak and shoes.

"Oh, maybe a few weeks," James scratched his neck as he paused, probably subconsciously after seeing Gail, "we'll be in touch. Keep an eye on Moony for us."

James offered a greeting to Remus as he left and Sirius just stalked out in a huff. Remus stepped into the little cottage carrying a small bag. It looked like his initials had been stitched on to the brown, cloth handle of the bag. Undoubtedly, it was his mother's work. It was obvious that Remus wouldn't be staying in the cottage for more than a few weeks.

"Your parents are letting you...?" Gail started.

"Ah, well," Remus' voice strained for a moment. His face shone pink in embarrassment, "they think I'm staying with James' family for a bit, I think. They always seem really happy whenever I mention the others..."

"It's because they're happy for you. You've found three great people that aren't afraid of your affliction," Gail beamed at Remus, playfully running a finger along his arm, "as well as someone that loves you and your furry little self."

"Oh? But you've never met Moony," Remus chuckled warmly, leaning in to give Gail a kiss. It was the first kiss they had exchanged in a while. It was awkward, but luckily Remus warmed quickly and the kiss became more intimate. Shivers of excitement shot down Gail's spine. She started feeling faint for a moment and Remus backed off.

"So what do you do around here for fun?" Remus joked, his eyes trailing to Flink who had fallen back asleep. He seemed oddly embarrassed and kept his hands folded neatly in front of him.

"Oh!" Gail snatched his arm and lead him outside to the backside of the cottage, "see? The nursery has had so many births this year that there's not enough space for all of them and some need more attention than others... So one of the supervisors, I forget his name, asked me to look after these."

There was a mesh enclosure that had been protected with various charms to keep the creatures in and prying eyes out. Gail was quite sure that Remus wouldn't have noticed it if she hadn't pulled him over to it. Within the little enclosure were three different kinds of creatures. A litter of kneazles had been born recently. They were about three weeks old, and their mother was still looking after them. Every once in a while, the large feline would hiss at the other tenants of the enclosure. Three or four knarls also shared the space. The knarls resembled porcupines and generally minded their own business. The last tenant of the enclosure was a crup.

The crup was the most dangerous creature that Gail had been asked to look due to their vicious nature towards muggles. They were highly intelligent and would have escaped if the charm wasn't keeping it in place. Muggles wouldn't even know that the creature wasn't a dog, since the end of its tail had been removed already. The crup looked like a long-legged Jack Russel Terrier. It was almost pure white with large splotches of black on its face and tail. Two small patches of brown tinged the dog-like creature's left ear and eye. Even though it was still quite young, the pup had grown quite a bit. It was apparent that it would have long, muscular legs when it was full grown.

"Hello Switch," Gail stepped over the mesh enclosure to greet the crup. It stared up at her with big, dark eyes as if it was listening to what she was saying, "have you been good? Ah, I see you caught that mouse from yesterday. Clever boy."

"Is that a crup?" Remus wondered out loud, "they're dangerous for muggles, aren't they?"

"Yes. They were bred by wizards to be able to sniff out muggles and muggleborns," Gail sighed heavily as she knelt down and scratched Switch's head, "they're really smart and loyal, though. I've been working with Switch to make him more friendly."

"I see," Remus smiled peacefully, leaning down to offer the kneazle mother a soft pat. "Oh, these have such weird hair colour... The adult is a kneazle, right?"

"Yes. It's strange that she gave birth to a litter, though. The chances are quite low, but I've started thinking that at least one of her young is a kneazle, too. See the bigger one? It's shown some signs of being slightly more intelligent already," Gail commented, moving her hands so that she could run her fingers through Switch's smooth fur.

"They're cute," Remus continued to smile all afternoon while Gail watched him. She was thankful that the arsonist didn't make another appearance at her cottage.

* * *

James was becoming quite irritated by the lack of understanding his best mate was showing. It was an unfortunate side affect of his from being cooped up in a small place for too long. Padfoot was surprisingly susceptible to cabin fever. And boy did he have it bad.

"We shouldn't leave them alone together," Sirius was saying briskly. He seemed to become more bristly with every word.

"It's not like Moony will get her pregnant," James rested his palm soothingly on Sirius' shoulder, "doubt they've even thought about doing it. Moony has a few chips on his shoulder, you know."

Sirius stared with his mouth open for a second. That was more than James could stand. Playfully, he wrapped a long arm around Sirius' neck and pulled his mate in tightly.

"Ugh, gerroff!" Sirius snapped, trying to remove James' arm from around his head. Unfortunately for him, James just leaned more of his weight into Sirius to maintain his hold. Sirius was eventually able to slither out of the hold, but only with great difficulty. Panting, Sirius leapt away from James and almost tripped on one of the piles of clothes that littered the bedroom floor.

"What was that for?" Sirius growled, eyes burning with hints of anger.

"No reason," James smiled mockingly, "just felt like stopping you from over-analysing the situation. You've been on edge all day... Something up?"

"Ah," Sirius grumbled heavily, "I got a letter from Regulus... It sounds like I've been burned off the family tree, and become-er... 'the forgotten son'... Like that would matter to me."

James bristled. He had always disliked the Black family traditions. Even as a kid, he couldn't understand why the adults would act in such a way. His parents were purebloods and didn't force their ideals on him. There was something wrong with the Black family; they were brainwashing every new generation into believing the out of date ideals and practising the dated traditions. It wasn't like Walburga Black even loved her children: she didn't even bother to send Sirius a howler the time that Moony had almost shredded Snape into scraps.

"Well, as far as I'm concerned, you're a Potter," James quipped, frowning at the wall.

"Thanks, mate," Sirius sounded really relieved by this statement, "what do you figure they're doing?"

"Are you asking because Moony is your friend, or because you're jealous?" James asked. He didn't receive an answer to that question, though. Instead, he kept talking, "whatever happened with Lily's friend? The brunette."

"Er-" Sirius shifted slightly, uncomfortable because of the topic, "I broke it off with her... I guess. We just sort of stopped seeing one another. I think she's going out with some Hufflepuff."

"And you don't even care?" James had to blink a few times to fit that notion into his brain. Sirius usually wouldn't give anything up that had once been his. Like a dog who didn't want to chew his bone any longer, but would growl at anyone who tried to take it.

"She was a nag, and it was annoying," Sirius shrugged.

"Amazing," James half-laughed at his friend, who didn't seem to find it funny at all.

"Oh, ha ha. Like my love life is funny enough to laugh at. What about yours?" Sirius threw a superior look at James.

"I'll have you know that Lily posted a letter back to me a few days ago," James bragged, pulling out a battered looking envelope. It was discoloured from being thumbed repeatedly.

James had read and reread the letter from Lily several times. He still didn't have the nerve to post a letter back. Of course, he had written several hundred responses, but none of them were exactly right. Either he sounded too emotional, egotistical or soft. There really wasn't an easy way for him to say that he was looking forward to seeing the redhead in their seventh year at Hogwarts.

"Let me guess, you haven't posted back?" Sirius yawned, "tough break. Girls make it look so easy and so hard to repeat."

"They sure do," James grumbled. His stomach immediately let loose a loud growl, signifying that it was time for a meal.

* * *

"Remus! Wake up... Come on, I'm leaving for work."

"Mmm..." Remus simply rolled over without even opening his eyes. Through the use of a cushioning charm on the floor next to Gail's bed, the floor had become a comfortable sleeping area for the teenage boy. Though he was on the floor, he slept like he was on the most comfortable bed in the world. Even after Gail tapped him with her foot, he didn't awaken immediately. He had to be the deepest sleeper in the world.

Or so Gail thought until he pulled her down. He simply wrapped a hand around her ankle and gave a little tug. Surprised and unbalanced, Gail fell heavily. Luckily, the cushioning charm took the impact quite well. Half awake, Remus easily pinned her to the ground by rolling on top of her.

"You're not going anywhere," Remus breathed heavily on her neck. For a moment, Gail felt incredible passion burning through her, ebbing with Remus' every breath. That was, until she noticed that Remus had fallen back asleep with her pinned under him. His soft brown hair tickled her nose.

"Move your butt, Remus Lupin, or I'll burn it off with or without my wand," Gail snapped irritably. In a moment, he was wide awake and sitting up.

"Sorry..." Remus mumbled, moving off to the bathroom. He took quite long in the bathroom, not that Gail was really watching the clock. She wouldn't have bothered waking him up if he hadn't said that he wanted to see the nursery she was working in. Undoubtedly, the supervisor would allow him to stay the say and help out wherever possible.

"Mornin' Flink," Gail greeted the house elf and the rest of the kitchen with a strained smile.

"Oh good, you're up! Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes. Tea?" Flink responded by snapping her fingers. A steaming cup of tea appeared on the table.

"Thanks," Gail sat herself in the chair that Sirius had occupied the previous day. She slowly sipped the tea to prevent her tongue from burning.

"Did you sleep well?" Flink asked cautiously.

"Oh, I slept quite well," Gail commented. She felt quite safe with Remus there. It might be different with the other boys, "I was a bit worried about Remus. The stubborn boy refused to share my bed... As if I would have done anything to him while he was sleeping."

"That's not the point," Remus' sleepy voice floated into the room, "I refused because that's something that can only be shared after marriage."

"You _square_," Gail laughed at him, "who says we won't be married?"

Remus' cheeks grew flushed, "I didn't..."

"Breakfast is ready," Flink interrupted cheerfully as she plopped two plates full of food onto the table in front of the two humans.

"Mmm," Gail moaned hungrily, shovelling the food into her mouth. Remus seemed a bit more reluctant to eat, but he did so after a few moments.

"There are seconds if you want... You two need your energy for today," Flink beamed at the two humans before hurrying into the bedroom, probably to make the beds and clean up Fright's cage.

"Love her to death," Gail started between mouthfuls, "but she's batty about keeping things neat."

"Mmm-uh," Remus swallowed before talking, "keeping it clean makes the place seem larger."

"Yeah, I guess so... I just feel bad. She works so hard," Gail darted a look towards the door as she scooped some ham into her mouth.

"She probably works harder at Hogwarts. It's a little vacation for her," Remus smiled thoughtfully, "imagine having to clean the entire school, clean up after the students, keep the fires going, and feed everyone. Hectic."

"That's for sure," Gail agreed amiably. She polished the rest of the food on her plate off. With her stomach nice and full, she looked at Remus to see if he was finished. He ate quite a bit slower than her, but he finished soon after Gail.

"Feeling nervous?" Gail asked him, sitting her elbows on the table as she leaned forward. She rested her chin on her palms as she watched Remus' reaction.

"Well, a bit I guess," Remus sighed lightly.

"Don't be. My supervisor is really _nice_, I'm sure he'll understand and be grateful for any help you offer," Gail smiled softly at him before she stood up. She took both plates to the sink before turning around, "I'm going to grab Switch and feed the others and then it'll be time for us to go."

"Right," Remus nodded rather stiffly. He still seemed quite unsettled by the whole thing, for whatever reason.

"We're going now, see you tonight Flink," Gail called into her room. Without waiting for a response, she pulled on her brown work smock, cloak and shoes. The creatures were exactly where they'd been left the previous day. Flink usually kept an eye on them during the day, feeding them if they got hungry. The only one that couldn't be left behind was Switch. The crup would have be attached by a magi-rope to Gail to ensure that he couldn't run off.

After the kneazles and knarls had been fed, Remus came out of the house, looking a little bit worried by the crup that had been tethered to Gail. He didn't say a word about it, though.

"Ah, take a hold of me, I'll apparate us there quickly," Gail mumbled. She still wasn't very good at apparating. When she managed to do it at all, she was usually far off of where she was aiming to land. She wasn't very focused most of the time, which was probably why. Unfortunately, apparition was the only real way to get from the small cottage to the nursery, because there was no fireplace in the cottage and using a broom would take too long.

While Gail was pondering the evils of apparition, Remus took hold of her arm. The slight pressure on her forearm snapped her back to reality. With a quick twist, Gail forced her body to reappear near the fifth nursery. With her eyes squeezed shut, she felt like she was in a pipe slide. A powerful wave of nausea assaulted her when her feet touched the ground. When she opened her eyes, she noticed that Remus looked quite green.

"I don't think I'm good enough for side-along apparition, yet," Gail smiled nervously through her retreating sickness. Remus was hunched over as if he had been winded.

"I don't know why it's so much worse with you. Feels like my organs have been moved around," Remus joked dryly, rubbing his stomach. For a moment, Gail thought he was going to throw up, but he didn't. They had landed right in front of the stylistic glass doors of the nursery. A metal five adorned the middle of the door, which had been left ajar. Gail didn't think anything of it.

During the winter, there had been several small upgrades to the nursery. The building had been transfigured from a wooden "barn" to a glass structure. It now had the appearance of a greenhouse, which is what most muggles would assume it was. Sunlight lit the entire building, from what Gail could see. Vines, sporting an array of flowers, crawled up the sides of the building; yearning for sunshine. Short hedges leaned against the decorative, ivy covered pillars in the centre of the building. Except for the creatures that were asleep in their stalls, the place seemed deserted. It looked like Gail and Remus were the first ones to arrive that morning.

The nursery was too quite. Even with the creatures asleep, there should have been the buzz of heavy breathing. It was as if someone had placed silencing charms on all of the creatures. After pulling out her wand, Gail cautiously stepped into the building. She felt like she was being paranoid because of the attack on her cottage, but there was to do about it. Remus followed her lead without a word. After five minutes of checking the area, it looked like everything was fine. Perhaps the supervisor had simply used a silence spell to ensure that the creatures would remain quiet during the night.

Gail relaxed until Switch started growling even though there wasn't anyone around.

"Something's coming," Remus turned to the door, finding that it was closed.

"Oh, it looks like a bunch of kiddies have shown up," a rusty, man's voice purred. The man soon hauled himself over towards Gail and Remus. He wand was held expertly. He was no Death Eater, was not wearing a mask or black cloak. But neither was he a novice in hurting others. He looked more like a mercenary with his unshaved face and eyes that hungered for blood. His robes were a muddy shade of brown and looked like they had never been washed.

"And here I was thinking that no one would be showing their faces here. Tsk tsk. But it's just a pair of kids," the man continued, breathing rancid air towards Gail. He stunk worse than the animal droppings that Gail shovelled during her first first summer of interning.

"Who are you?" Gail found her voice finally, after holding back her gag reflex.

"I'm the new owner of this here building," the man cackled rudely, turning a lecherous look towards her. His black eyes roamed her from head to toe like he was inspecting livestock, "not bad. Quite the looker, aincha?"

Gail felt Remus stiffen beside her. He was just managing to keep himself from hexing the disgusting man to pieces.

"Did you buy it?" Gail asked, attempting to keep her tone as calm as she could. The man simply laughed and she couldn't help but recoil from the stench of his breath.

"No, guess again," the man cackled to himself.

"Stole it?" Gail guessed.

"Oh, a winner!" The man boomed, throwing his arms up in victory. This was his most fatal mistake. He underestimated the 'pair of kids'. Both Gail and Remus, who had been waiting for the right moment, sent red stunners into the man's body. Without another sound, the thief toppled over.

"Fool," Remus breathed heavily. Gail witnessed a look of utter disgust on her lover's face as he swooped down to grab the man's wand.

"I don't think he's a Death Eater. No mark on his arm," Remus remarked when he had straightened up, "just a bottom feeder looking to stir up his own fortune during the chaos."

His statement meant something to Gail, who knew that the conditions in Remus' future were not great. He would likely spend his entire life in poverty and never even think of taking up crooked profession. Society could evict him, kick him while he was down and yet he would never have such self pity that he would need to bite back. He was not like the pitiful man that was splayed out on the ground of the nursery. Remus had his dignity, no matter how dampened it was. His dignity was one of the things that never stopped surprising Gail.

"What the..." Gail's supervisor marched into the nursery. If Gail remembered correctly, his name was Henry. He looked mad and his was almost incomprehensible because of how fast he was speaking, "I go away for a day and what happens? The night team slack off and let some rabble in here?"

"He was saying that he stole the nursery," Gail explained, "we thought he had killed everyone or something."

"Hmph. Night guys might as well be dead when I'm done with them... Gail, tie this guy up. We'll be sending him to rot Azkaban," With that, Henry stalked off to restore sanity to the Ministry of Magic's fifth magical creature nursery.

"All in a day's work," Gail sighed. Ropes leapt out of her wand and bound the thief up. She didn't say a word to Remus about her fears for the night staff. She only hoped that they had been slacking off...

"This is normal? You must be batty to work here," Remus half-joked. Within a moment, he was too busy helping Gail move the smelly man to say much else.

* * *

**Author Note:**

Chapter 50! That's halfway to 100. To celebrate, this chapter is longer than the others! Thank you for sticking with me this far. I hope you like my thief. I imagine there are plenty of wizards that will take advantage of Voldemort's war machines to make their lives better... This poor, smelly fellow is just the first! But Gail wouldn't let him sell "her pets" on the black market.

I just thought of a name for Gail's poor supervisor. Henry, as in King Henry... Or maybe Henry Baskerville or Oh Henry!

Oh, I've also added a quick chapter to Time to go! ... about pranks.

James has such insight into Sirius. It's intriguing.

-Rue

* * *

**Musik Drache:** Deduction, my dear Watson. I'm tricky like that. Peter is certainly involved, but to what amount? And what does the pie have to do with anything? And why is the sky blue?

**Apocolips**: Thank you! I agree: Remus would be the best. Ahh~ He's so lovely. [heavy sigh] If only he was real, but I'm way too obsessed... I wouldn't ever wish that Sirius was real; he's too scary. Very scary and dark...

**Krazykook**: They certainly are meanies! They're trying to reform the world through extremist means. I guess you can consider them extremist revolutionaries... But they're not pleasant... Anyway, I wouldn't call Gail's cottage "cosy," myself. It would call it cramped... I'm on Sirius' size on this.

**xxGrimxLullaby**: It's okay. I squeal whenever I get reviews. That kind of thing happens... But Peter was alone? There's no way you could pin the fire on Peter, he was away from the house when it started, since James and Sirius were following his trail, and the fire didn't start until after they had left... I'm sad to say that the days of fluff are probably over... It might be time for some more firm romance, maybe.

Second war... You'll see. Oh yes... Don't feel nervous! I don't bite, honestly. I would write more in response, but I'm in class. I really should be paying attention. Shame on me, right? Haha~


	51. Chapter 51

**Chapter 51**

James' goal over the summer was to keep Sirius' attention off from his moodiness. So far, his mate was in a rather good mood. They were planning on investigating the fire that had been set on Gail's cottage. They weren't sure where to start, though. So it took quite a bit of discussion and debate.

"Maybe if we go to the Leaky Cauldron?" James suggested, "someone might brag about it, or something."

"I don't think so," Sirius shook his head, causing his handsome hair to shift slightly, "they wouldn't boast about it there. Let's try the tavern in Knockturn Alley. More likely to get information about the fire there."

James felt his stomach sink. His parents would definitely not agree with him even setting foot in Knockturn Alley. It wasn't even one of the places that were high on his list of places to visit. He wasn't sure that he wanted to go.

"Don't give me that look, you didn't come up with a better idea."

James couldn't help but groan, "you know about that kind of stuff... I don't like it. I don't even want to go near it."

Sirius grinned boyishly, "ah, the Potter aversion to the dark arts. Just like your Dad."

"Yeah, so?" James laughed shortly, "I have morals, Padfoot. I like to think that's what sets me apart."

"Sure does," Sirius laughed, "but we'll need something to disguise us... Make us look like we belong there. So we don't get jumped by a heard of Death Eaters."

James grudgingly agreed to the plan, knowing that Sirius wouldn't give up the notion. He might as well go with it with his eyes open to the entire ordeal.

"Facial hair and colour change charms?" James asked calmly, "that's easy enough. We could tell my parents that we're just going to get some ice cream or something."

Sirius was nodding, the cogs in his brain already working, "it shouldn't be too hard to transfigure our robes into 'dark' apparel."

"Right, so what if we..."

* * *

Their plan was complete by the time the sun started setting. It was time to act. They had resolved to sneaking out of the house for fear that the Potters wouldn't let them leave. Roughly twenty minutes later, James and Sirius arrived at the entrance to Knockturn Alley before the street could be folded in darkness. Their disguises were perfect. None of the witches or wizards they passed in the alley even hazarded a second glance at them.

James had turned his hair a rusty brown colour, which wasn't a huge change. The same bronze coloured hair grew on his face, forming patches. Sirius had managed a temporary charm to allow him to see without using his glasses. He had transfigured the colour, texture and style of his robes. They were now grey with vibrant white pinstripes. James had even shined his shoes, just to give off the right, aristocratic feel. He looked very much like a well off pureblood wizard that might dabble in the dark arts from time to time.

But Sirius played the part better. Padfoot had gone almost completely blonde. His hair was almost white, and was easily comparable to his cousin, Narcissa's. That was assumably the look he was going for. Of course, he had grown some facial hair, as well, but in cleaner strips on his face. His robes were jet black and elegant. In any case, Sirius looked like he could have been a member of high society or count (vampire). Normally, he didn't look so pale, but the blonde hair really washed him out. He would have looked sickly, if not for the haughty look in his grey eyes. Sirius even transfigured a chunk of wood into a gem-embedded walking stick, just to add to his posh aura.

Sirius lead the way down the alley, clearing through a mass of rather ugly witches. For a split second, he paused outside of the tavern named "Floatsam's." It wasn't a very cheerful place, and it certainly wasn't a place James would like to visit again. The whole place seemed to be made out of stale, grey wood. Without a word to one another, they walked into the dark, melancholic tavern. James didn't even bother reading the specials board at the entrance.

They made their way to the counter of the tavern. Sirius pulled up a stool and James took a spot next to him. Within a second, the host was on top of them with a greedy twinkle in his eye.

"Wha' can I ge' ye gen's?" The man slurred his words slightly.

"Firewhiskey," Sirius ordered, turning his eyes thoughtfully to James before he finished, "two."

"Righ' away," the man quickly poured two glass cups of the glowing liquid and slid them over the bar. Sirius cooly took his drink and downed it in one go. Hesitantly, James stared at the liquid for a moment before mimicking his friend. His chest immediately felt like it was on fire. It wasn't the first time he'd ever drunk the stuff, but it still wasn't pleasant. He really did prefer Butterbeer.

Eventually, the firewhiskey settled down in his stomach.

"I told you no one would be here," James said grumpily after the host had wandered off to serve a woman.

"Calm down, mate," Sirius hissed at him convincingly, "they'll be here soon."

"Ye 'oo wai'ing fer someone?" The host shot a look over at them after serving an attractive woman at the other end of the counter. Of course, James wasn't sure if she really was attractive, or if that was just the firewhiskey in him.

"Sure," Sirius answered cooly, "we were told by some acquaintances to meet here, but it doesn't look like they'll show."

"Wha' fer?" the host's eyebrows shot up curiously.

"Just to thank someone for taking care of that... mudblood for us," Sirius smiled cruelly. James assumed he was mimicking the behaviours of his family.

"Eh? Which mudblood?" The host leaned on the bar, eyes still twinkling with greed. It almost made James' skin crawl. Luckily, Sirius wanted him to play brooding and quiet, which he did splendidly.

"Oh, just one of them," Sirius snapped before appearing to calm himself down, "burnt her grubby house down, hear? Nothing left of her but dust."

The host's mouth formed a ring, "heard about that from one of them Death Eaters... If I were you, I'd leave it alone unless yer lookin' ter join... Yer not, righ'?"

Sirius scowled as a reply. Apparently, he was scary enough to send the bar host away without another comment.

"We were followed," Sirius spoke very quietly. It was hard for James to hear him above the continuous murmur of the tavern, "on the way to her cottage."

"You think?" James laughed sarcastically but his face showed no mirth.

The murmur stopped. An eerie silence dropped down onto the tavern like a mourner's veil. A man stood up from the shady corner at the far back of the tavern and moved to take the stool next to James. In return, James stared at him out of the corner of his eye while biting the inside of his cheek. It was all the messy haired youth could do to keep himself from shirking away from the foul individual beside him.

"I heard you were looking for the _arsonist_," the man said in a low, deep voice. He had a very educated tone to his voice.

"We are," James responded shortly, running one of his lean fingers along the rim of his glass cup.

"I was 'hired' to do it. Since the Death Eaters couldn't be bothered," the man stated quickly. He seemed to fly under the host's radar. The normal buzz of the tavern returned slowly when the patrons realized that the move wasn't a hostile one wasn't looking to start anything.

"Why are you telling us this?" Sirius asked curtly, staring at the man with no emotion.

"Figured you might reward me," the man sighed heavily, "but I'm probably wrong, aren't I?"

"We'll pay you" Sirius motioned for them to leave the tavern, "if you come with us. What's your name?"

"Jack."

There was a hard moment of silence between the two after the man had given his name. Jack seemed to be thinking about his options. He finally consented to following the two teenagers. There was no fear in his eyes before he got up and lead the way out of the tavern. Sirius followed him quickly, leaving James to slap down some money for their drinks. If he had a choice, they wouldn't be re-entering.

"Who hired you to do it?" Sirius asked casually.

"I didn't see their faces," Jack responded, "they just wanted me to set this little hut on fire. I did and then I apparated right back into London."

"And they didn't pay you?" Sirius scratched his hair-covered chin for a moment, "blackmail?"

Jack's stare darkened significantly, "what of it?"

"Just curious as to what kind of man you are," Sirius smiled wickedly, "wondering if you were going to join them. It looks like they have you wrapped up in a package, though. Unable to move. What do you think, Prongs?"

James frowned at Sirius, seeing exactly where this conversation was going.

"Mr. Prongs doesn't like your reasons," Sirius continued with his arrogant, wicked act, "but we'll let you go if you tell us everything you can."

"Like I'd risk everything by telling you bloody _brats_ any more," the man finally snapped. James noted that the man's hand was in his pocked, possibly around a wand. He tried to walk away from Sirius, but the dark teenager wouldn't allow it. It wasn't in his nature to let any prey go unscathed. Sirius' wand flashed and the man was pinned against the wall, unable to pull his wand out.

"Tell us," James started, his voice slightly louder than the scrap of shoe on the ground, "how the Death Eaters got their information."

"I don't know," Jack stated simply. His left eye twitched somewhat. James pulled his out his own wand and levied it at the lying man.

"Don't make things get any worse for yourself," Sirius said pleasantly, fading into the 'good cop' category for a moment, "we'd like to let you go, Jack, but see... My mate, Prongs, wants information."

With a wand pointed at his eye, the man began to sweat. James doubted his own ability to harm the man, but that was something that Jack didn't need to know. Sweat poured down the man's grimy face, creating odd streaks of dirt here and there. Jack's bottom lip quivered for a moment.

"Fine! _FINE_," Jack half-shouted, "bloody kids... The Death Eaters were vague. It sounded like they got the location of the white cottage from someone in their chain of information. No direct source. That's all I know."

James backed off and pocketed his wand, "so someone else was watching us. Great."

"We'd better go," Sirius whispered to James, "if we're being followed, it won't do to loiter here."

With that, Sirius apparated away from prying eyes. In a second, James followed his friend and landed safely in the Potter's garden. James quickly rushed into the house and bolted the door behind himself. Sirius had safely made it in a few seconds before him.

"Where were you boys?"

James' father was sitting in the darkened living room with his pipe in his mouth. A look of annoyance and disappointment haunted the elderly man's face as he stared at the two teenagers. James almost felt overwhelmed with guilt, but he knew he'd done the right thing in going with Sirius. They needed information about the fire and James couldn't let his best mate go alone.

"It's three in the morning," Mr. Potter scolded them with a deep frown, "really James, I thought I raised you with a bit more..."

"Dad," James started to interrupt his father, but there was a warning look in the elder's eyes.

"I understand that you want to have fun," Mr. Potter started again, "but in times like these? It's just not safe. You're my only son, James. I would hope you value your own safety a bit more."

James couldn't keep the strain out of his voice, "but Dad..."

"We'll discuss it more in the morning," Mr. Potter shook his head, "both of you get upstairs to bed."

James trudged up the stairs as if he was walking to his own funeral. He didn't say a word to Sirius, but they both knew what kind of trouble they would find in the morning. James' father was all for joking and pranks, but he was a tough when it came to James' security. It didn't matter that both boys were seventeen, old enough to apparate and use magic responsibly. Under Mr. Potter's roof, they were still just teenagers.

* * *

"James Potter!" James' mother shrieked at him, looking absolutely batty for a moment, "_are_ you listening to me?"

"Am, Mum," James heaved a sigh, staring pointedly down at his mother. She could be lovely and a horror at the same time.

It was horrible that James was stuck inside with his mother on such a nice summer day. He was helping her clean up a small doxy nest that had settled themselves in the drawing room curtains. It was such a pain- but he would rather clean up after doxies than whatever Mr. Potter had Sirius doing. For some reason, his parents had gone even harder on Padfoot, probably because they felt he hadn't been disciplined enough as a child. Not that all the discipline in the world would do Sirius Black any good.

"If you're not careful, James..." Mrs. Potter droned on and on, as if James hadn't helped her clear the doxies out of the spare bedroom when Sirius came to stay with them. She always had a habit of being overly cautious with her only son. As a result, James couldn't help but become a bit of a thrill seeker, right?

It took only a few minutes before the remainder of the nest was completely cleaned up. James quickly ripped off his protective clothing, gloves and apron, after seeing that his mother was finished.

"I'm going to start lunch," Mrs. Potter said sharply, "you take this cloth and give the bronze a good shine."

"Aw, Mum!" James whined for a moment. After receiving a sharp look from her, though, he dutifully trotted over to Mrs. Potter's treasured bronze bobbles. Over the years, his mother had collected many different statues, ornaments, urns (or whatever you call them) and so on... All made out of bronze. It was as if Mrs. Potter had meant for James to spend a significant amount of his time at home polishing the things.

Without a word, James attacked one of the bigger bronze pieces with a rag. The darned things were thousands of times harder to polish than the trophies at Hogwarts. Mrs. Potter was more cruel than Filch could dream of being.

"Psst." James' head shot up as he looked around for the source of the noise.

"Pssssst!" It was a little bit louder outside of the window.

James stuck his head out the window and looked down to see Sirius huddled there, looking smug for whatever reason. He had obviously hidden himself in the bushes to escape Mr. Potter's punishment. James glanced over his shoulder and listened for a moment. When he was reasonably assured that his mother was still working away in the kitchen, James leap out of the window and landed next to Sirius.

"What'd he get you to do?" James asked fearfully, examining the messy arrangement of his friend's robes.

"Gardening," Sirius half barked at the thought, "your garden's worse than the whomping willow."

"Not surprising, Dad likes the dangerous plants," James commented, running a hand through his hair to mess it up a bit, "he thought about getting his own whomping willow a while back, but he settled on a mass of different plants... Because mum wouldn't let us keep something so dangerous."

Sirius snorted quietly before singing quietly on of Moony's favourite drinking songs, "our other friend is a whomping willow named Jimmy- Jerry- Joe."

James couldn't help but laugh at the nicknames they'd given to the willow. It had been Ben, Brian, Jimmy, Jerry, Joe and many others, in order to keep their secret dealings quiet from the rest of the students.

"Lunch is ready," Mrs. Potter's voice drifted quietly out of the open window. Without a second though, James stood up and offered a hand up to Sirius.

"So that's where you went!" Mr. Potter came around the corner to find both boys. He was covered in mud and several other fluids; no wonder Sirius had stashed himself away.

"Lunch is ready, Dad," James quipped with a smile, leading the two others back into the house. When he reached the kitchen table, he noticed that the Prophet had been left on the table where his father sat. It normally wouldn't have caught his attention, except that the headline was odd.

"Insane man's plot to sell creatures on the black market foiled by two teenagers," James read the headline out loud, "couldn't make it any longer, could they?"

James briefly scanned the article's picture before reading the opening sentence out loud, "two seventeen year olds, names not disclosed, put a stop to some batty man's attempt to steal the creatures that have been raised in the Ministry of Magic's fifth nursery..."

"Hey, doesn't Gail work there?" Sirius asked thoughtfully, eyes not really betraying him. He spoke smoothly enough.

"You don't think it was Moony and her, do you?" James immediately shrugged off that idea. Gail had likely taken the day off so that she could spend more time with Remus. From what he'd heard, they still needed to patch things up a little bit.

* * *

**Author Note:**

I hope you enjoyed the James-rific chapter!

I'm really sorry, there won't be an update next Monday/Friday. I have a lot of school work that absolutely needs to get done. I will try to make it up to all of you with an extremely good chapter when I get back to writing. I will try to update for Halloween. Wish me luck...

-Rue

* * *

**Krazykook**: Remus is never bored: it's always Sirius that gets bored. I'm sure he has a few books in his bag. I would say that Clue would be the best boardgame. Oh, I dearly love that game. I'm so competitive... haha

**Apocolips**: He stole the nursery! As in "finders-keepers". Hmm... That gave me a great idea. Hoho~ Thank you for the idea. Remus IS the one to daydream about, isn't he? Well, sometimes I daydream about James Potter (but that's never romantic... he's usually doing something cool).

**Darkness That Surrounds**: Blimey! I'm always bad. I don't pay attention in management information systems. Instead, I edit and post chapters. That's why I really need to review for the midterm. X.X

**xxGrimxLullaby**: The longest one I've read longer than is 100 chapters (Good Morrow), and the chapters are so long... But because I actually read it, I can't find myself to pair anyone else with Sirius. Honestly. I've already broken him up with Joe... I'm not going to say who I've been thinking about squishing him with... Because it's fairly obvious. Or maybe not!

We should play "pin the tail on the sneak" sometime... Peter really deserves it. Tsk tsk... naughty little Petey.

**Again: The next update will be a week from tomorrow, approximately! After my midterms and quizzes. See yall later. Have a great week.**


	52. Chapter 52

**Chapter 52**

"What do you want to do?"

"I'dunno."

Gail stared across the table at Remus. He had continued to act as her shadow all week, following her to work and back home again. While he was at the nursery, he was a huge help with the creatures. Remus was five times more effective than the two new interns. Henry, the head supervisor, had taken to relying on Remus more than the other two, and had even tried to recruit Remus by offering the werewolf a higher wage than the other interns- more than once. To Gail's chagrin, Remus had turned Henry down, saying that he would only accept a fair wage to coincide with the work he did, and nothing more.

Gail had recognized one of the interns from their Care of Magical Creatures class; Kyle Singe, the friendly Hufflepuff prefect. He had explained that he was reassigned from the third nursery after having a row with one of his supervisors. It must have been quite the fight, since Kyle had been shunted from the other nursery. The other intern was a young, French girl from Beauxbatons. Gail found it hard to understand the girl, but at least the French girl tried her hardest, even when cleaning the stalls was assigned to her. Gail was an intern, too, but because she had been working at the nursery for her fourth summer, it was generally assumed that she was higher on the totem pole than the others.

Gail and Remus continued to wait for each other to crack as they sat by the table. It was a week and a half after the incident with the raving lunatic, and things had mellowed off. The whole fiasco had become a bit of a joke between the two of them.

"What- do I have to steal it out of you?" Remus joked with a wry smile on his face.

"Oye, you can't _possibly_ steal it out of me, darling," Gail returned in a tone that mimicked James' arrogant tone quite well before she chuckled to herself.

Remus puffed himself up slightly, holding his shoulders up as if to make himself look bigger, "you know I can!"

"Can't!" Gail squeaked, leaning across the table to prod Moony's arm playfully. It was her day off. She was happy enough to just relax, perhaps go for a walk with Remus and Switch.

"Well, since you don't want to decide, I'll decide. Let's go to London's Museum of Quidditch History," Remus proclaimed finally.

"A real date?" Gail's jaw almost dropped. Sure, it was a museum and Gail wasn't overly interested in Quidditch, but they hadn't been on a date for a long time. Waves of excitement almost bowled her over.

"Well, I figure you've never been, and I would to get a head start on Christmas gifts," Remus smiled fondly at the idea.

"It's summer!" Gail playfully pushed him.

"Yes, but I won't get another chance to buy James, Sirius and Peter something from the museum, will I?" Remus remarked eloquently.

"Why don't you just steal the museum for them?" Gail stood up and made for the door. She moved so quickly that her cream coloured summer dress spun around her. Before Remus could voice his amusement, she had pulled on her black summer cloak on.

"In a bit of a hurry, are we?" Remus' smile was good natured and a little bit teasing. Gail quickly handed him his cloak as well, before she pulled on her little brown shoes. In minutes, they were both standing outside on the deep, green lawn, arm in arm. It was a beautifully pleasant day with no rain clouds in sight. Flink waved at them from beside the cottage, saying that she would watch over the creatures while Gail was away.

"Let's go, Remus," Gail frowned up at him impatiently, "it's your turn to apparate, you know."

They had been practising side-along apparition, because it was quite a bit harder to aim two people. Remus was able to do easier, and Gail always felt less nauseous afterwards.

"You need to hold on more tightly," Remus stated. When Gail's grip on his arm tightened, he twisted his body slightly and they reappeared in London, right in front of the most fabulous museum Gail had ever seen.

"Whoa," Gail was quite taken by the strongly enchanted sculptures outside of the museum. She marvelled at the high, polished arches which were embellished with carvings wizards playing Quidditch. Every once in a while, they would stop playing in order to wave at the children that were staring at them in fascination. The effect was ruined by misty grey blobs that only Gail could see, but she did her best to ignore the trace of enchantments.

Several different types of brooms were displayed in the air outside of the museum and were likely charmed so that no one could steal them. The brooms and the carvings beckoned their admirers inwards, to come and view the ancient wizarding history.

"Hurry up, Remus!" Gail turned her head around to stare impatiently at him when she got to the door. With a bemused look on his face, the teasing werewolf made his way into the museum more slowly. For a split second, Gail regretted coming to the museum. People almost had to crawl over each other in order to get a good look at the displays.

The mass of people were almost completely stationary, until one person decided to try and move, which would cause a slight ripple. It was almost impossible for Gail and Remus to get inside the door. Everyone in the museum was three seconds away from seeing Gail have a breakdown. She didn't get any better when she found herself encircled by other people and not one of them was Remus. Panic seeped in and she fought against the crowd for a moment, until Remus separated two wizard's shoulders and pulled her toward him.

"Phew, thought you got stolen for a second," Remus spoke in a normal tone, but he had to get down to her level to be heard. The result of the crowd was Remus, with his arms around her, straining himself so as to give her as much room as possible, "everything all right? I didn't think it would be this busy."

Gail tried to squeak back a retort, but it wouldn't come. She couldn't find her voice, but at least her breathing began to get easier. Gail noticed that, after a few minutes, Remus was moving them towards one of the walls. He had an easier time moving, since he was rather tall and could see over the crowd to know which directions they should be heading. The crowd seemed to thin considerably the further they got in.

"I don't know why they put the broom exhibits at the entrance," Remus commented with a very weak grin, "better now? There's only a few people in this part of the museum."

Gail finally relaxed enough to respond with a nod. She was glad to be away from that awful crowd. Having a bit or personal space was pleasant, although she was starting to think that it was nice to be in Remus' arms. Eventually, Gail's dark eyes trailed the little cordoned off area that they had entered. There were several large paintings and a huge tapestry were hung on the walls, displaying what appeared to be Quidditch, with the use of baskets and outdated brooms. Several other relics were displayed on charming little pedestals.

It was somewhat like a muggle museum, other than the fact that everything didn't have a physical barrier to stop people from touching the knickknacks. Gail would have betted her full savings that the spells that had been placed on the different relics were hexes that would potentially harm someone.

Gail discovered that she was right when a boy, who looked like he was ten years old, tried to pick up a rock that was being displayed in the centre of the room. For whatever reason, it was under the protection of several spells. As soon as the child had his hand wrapped around the rock-like-bludger, two things happened. A piercing loud squeal alerted everyone in the room. The child immediately broke out in a bright red rash that covered both of his hands. The boy's mother eventually came rushing over and gave the boy a stern talking to before taking him by the ear towards the help desk. Remus didn't seem to notice this, though. He was too busy studying the ancient tapestry on the wall. It took a lot of concentration on Gail's part to stare past the moving shadows to the figures.

There was one painting that stood out more than the others. It was a man that looked strangely like James.

"Ah, that's James' great uncle," Remus explained quietly, noticing her interest. The man in the portrait winked at Gail and puffed his chest up proudly, "from what James has said, his great uncle was one of the ministry workers that decided that hoops were better than baskets."

"Baskets?"

"Yes... Quidditch used to be played with baskets on the end of long poles until 1883," Remus explained cheerfully. He didn't seem to notice that several of the children were staring at him as he was talking, as if he was telling their favourite story.

"That's just one of the changes in the past hundred years. The same concepts of the game are still used, today," Remus continued. Gail eventually tuned him out, though. Frankly, she was just not that interested in the history lesson. Remus seemed happy to be explaining everything to her, though. He seemed more bright than he had in a while.

Gail turned her attention from the antique portrait of James great uncle to a portrait of a lovely woman with hair blacker than charcoal. The description under the painting said that she fought liberally for witches to be able to play the sport on the international level. That was interesting; hadn't witches always been able to play Quidditch?

"Ah, the list of all of the known fouls is over there," Remus pointed out, "let's go have a look."

"You can't resist trying to read it all, can you? It'll take a while," Gail teased him, following him in between a barrier. She had expected a book of some sort, but no. Wizards had thought of a delightful way of displaying the different Quidditch fouls.

Each of the seven hundred fouls was listed on the wall with an image depicting the foul above it. A constant stream of people arrived in the room to look at the charmed list of fouls, only to turn around and leave a few minutes later. The different fouls seemed to float across the walls as if suspended in jelly. It was quite amusing to just stand in the middle of the room and watch. Gail couldn't help but laugh at the depiction of blatching: the diagram showed one slightly mental looking wizard flying at another. There were fireworks when the two collided. There were also examples of players transfiguring their opponents into tea cozies, toasters, and a variety of other muggle artifacts, as well as all kinds of animals.

"Which one's your favourite foul?" Gail asked Remus after a moment of examining them.

"Oh, I would say mooshing," Remus pointed his finger up at the ceiling. When Gail turned her attention to it, she noticed that a group of angry Quidditch fans had brought their own brooms and were flying around and attempting to distract the referee. "What about you?"

"Oh, I think 'attempting to decapitate a keeper with a broadsword' is pretty eccentric," Gail commented satirically. What she wouldn't give to see that.

Remus was chuckling, his eyes straying over to the foul that Gail had mentioned. They stood next to one another without speaking for a moment. Their silence wasn't awkward. They were standing close enough that their arms were touching. Tenderly, Gail slid her fingers into Remus' hand, surprised that he was a little bit cooler. His boney hand twitched slightly before entangling around Gail's calloused hand. Several small calluses had formed on Remus' palm, likely because of the repetitive work he had been doing at the nursery. Gail hadn't noticed in the past few days, but he had a more healthy complexion than before. Work seemed to agree with him.

"What's over there?" Gail asked, finally breaking for the silence when another bright corridor caught her attention.

"Hmm?" Remus' soft brown gaze darted over to follow Gail's finger, "that's the gift shop. Shall we?"

Gail nodded vigourously. She pulled Remus along behind her, their fingers still entwined warmly. The little store wasn't as busy as Gail thought it would be. Hordes of children swarmed the Quidditch candies. Several children were holding mini brooms made out of toffee. There were snitches, quaffles and bludgers made out of chocolate.

There was everything and anything related to the sport in the store. Everything from brooms to sets of Quidditch balls and team memorabilia. Signed trinkets lined the wall with extravagant prices. Older teenagers crowded around some brooms that were being sold. Gail thought she read "nimbus" on one of the handles that she could see through the crowd.

Remus reluctantly released Gail's hand before he made his way over to a shelf holding many different books. The slick covers of thousands of books about Quidditch were lined up like little soldiers. In an instant, Remus had pulled an armful of books off the shelf. He was carefully scanning through the books, occasionally replacing one or two back onto the shelf. His face was focused completely and Gail couldn't help but notice how handsome he was with the determined look in his eyes. With the bit of money he had earned from working in the nursery, he was going to buy his best friends Christmas gifts.

Nodding to herself, Gail turned to examine one of the shelves at her height. Socks with brooms caught her attention. There were also jumpers, trousers and robes with popular team colours. Gail half wished there were some Griffindor socks. She caught herself before she could make plans to buy gifts for the marauders... Well, maybe that wasn't such a bad idea.

Gail picked up a pair of socks for each boy, figuring she could try to stitch their names on or something. With Remus still focused on the books, she drifted over towards the candy section. The children moved for her, so that she could pick up a quaffle made out of chocolate. It was heavier than Gail thought it would be. It was solid chocolate the size of her head. Gail also picked up one of the toffee brooms for Lily. Gail paid for the items and carefully placed them in a cloth bag. She squeezed the bag closed in secrecy.

"Done yet?" Gail beamed around Remus' arm to see what he was reading. It looked like a book about beaters and the theory behind smacking bludgers around.

Remus' head jerked, his face brilliantly pink, "sorry... er, I think Prongs would like this one, it goes over specific techniques and plays used by professionals."

"You're right," Gail laughed. She noticed Remus' eyes trailing to the bag in her hands, but she ignored his stare as she spoke, "James would probably love it. What about Sirius? He'd probably scoff at a book."

"He likes the Quaffle-pops."

"The what?" Gail's eyes went large as they followed Remus' pointing fingers. She never thought that she would see such a large lollipop. It was the size, shape and texture of a quaffle. No wonder Sirius liked it; what a load of candy. Remus picked one, as well as a poster for Peter.

"Seen enough for today?" Remus asked casually. He pulled out a pocket watch with his free hand and sighed, "wow, time really flies... It's almost tea time."

"Ah, I guess we should be getting back. Flink will worry if we're out too late," Gail agreed as they made their way to the exit of the museum.

* * *

James was laying awake in the middle of the night. For whatever reason, he was completely unable to fall back asleep. His room was completely dark, but that wasn't what was annoying him. Normally, the house would creak and groan from age and shifting temperatures. Tonight was different, though. The house was eerily quiet.

James threw back the covers of his bed and searched around for his glasses for a moment. With his glasses on, he was able to find his wand quickly. It had been buried under a pile of clothes.

"_Lumos_."

James made his way down the hallway, walking quietly over the creaky floorboard by Sirius' bedroom door. There was only the sound of heavy breathing from within the room. Padfoot was still asleep. The messy haired teen continued on his way, easing himself down the creaky staircase without causing any erroneous noises. Strangely enough, there were lights on the main floor, although James' parents were supposed to be in bed.

It took James a moment to realize that there were voices. There was crying. It sounded like his mother. Without a second thought, James darted down the last few steps, around the corner and into the kitchen. The information that hit him when he entered the kitchen was almost overwhelming. His father was on the ground, writhing in pain and his mother was weeping quietly. Three figures loomed over James' parents. One with a wand trailed on Mr. Potter, and the other two with their wands pointed at James.

"James! No!" Mrs. Potter shrieked. She tried to move towards him, but a hand grabbed her roughly, restraining the tiny woman with ease. A wand was pressed to her neck.

"It looks like we have ourselves a hero," a muffled voice came from behind Mrs. Potter as a fourth cloaked figure took shape. A mask soon appeared in James' enraged view. James levied a wand at him, but was greeted by an excruciating pain. Three of the Death Eaters laughed mockingly as he crumpled. There was only so much he could take, if felt like his brain was trying to jump out of his head. Mrs. Potter was screaming as loudly as she could, pleading with the men not to hurt her son... Suddenly, the pain ceased.

"We'll give you Potters a choice-" The Death Eater that was restraining Mrs. Potter boomed, "you're purebloods... We don't really want to hurt you. Join us. The Dark Lord has uses for you."

* * *

**Author Note:**

Happy Halloween! Is anyone dressing up? I'll be having fun watching horror movies in my basement while I write chapter 53.

It's been a while since I've written a cliffhanger ending. I really don't want to put the Potters in jeopardy... I hope they'll pull through. Next chapter certainly will be interesting.

Midterm week is over. I should be able to update regularly again, Monday/Friday.

-_Rue_

_

* * *

  
_

**Krazykook**: Yes! They were little detectives last chapter! But I think their actions will have some consequences.

**XxGrimmy**: Yeah, it's really long. I didn't think I would like it so much when I started, but after 20 chapters, it got really good. I couldn't stop reading for about 3 days. By the end, I was in tears and it was really ugly- I was really ugly, haha. Sirius. SIGH. He's just such a strange character to me. That's exactly why I can't write from his perspective. I don't think HE understands himself and he's a genius.

**Apocolips**: Haha~ Thanks! I will be doing more chapters that are away from Gail in some way, just so that I can explain everything that's happening in the war.


	53. Chapter 53

**Chapter 53**

"_We'll give you Potters a choice-" The Death Eater that was restraining Mrs. Potter boomed, "you're purebloods... We don't really want to hurt you. Join us. The Dark Lord has uses for you."_

James knew his father wouldn't agree without even looking at the elderly man. James' father was shaking in fury from even being asked to side with the people that had killed his best friend. Mrs. Potter was no different. The tears in her eyes had become tears of anger and spite. The deaths of the Prewetts had sent both of James' parents into a spiral of depression for a long while. They had still been upset when Gail had stayed with them, even though they had been very cautious not to display their grief. They thought James didn't understand.

But James' best friend was just upstairs.

"Stuff it," James retorted bitterly, jutting his chin out in defiance. That was a poor choice to make, James though later. The Death Eater that was holding his mum released his grip on her and targeted James with his wand. James' stomach jumped, realizing that he had the wands of three murderers pointed at him. For whatever reason, the fourth was still pointed at his father.

"_Boy_... Maybe you should rethink your answer..." James fumed at that. They were looking down on him because he was young. At least, the lead Death Eater was.

"I don't think so," James snarled. Before he could even blink, the speaker whipped his wand, hitting James with the powerful torturing curse. Again, the pain ripped through James but he was ready for it. With his teeth clenched, he remained standing this time. All of the nerves in his body were going on. Under the excruciating pain, James continued to glare at the Death Eater. They were laughing at him, at his pain, but he wouldn't give in. Eventually, the pain ebbed away.

Mr. Potter moved furiously when the four intruders were distracted. He hauled himself up and snatched his wand off the group. With a flash of his wand, the fourth Death Eater was disarmed. Mr. Potter spun on the leader and launched the man across the room. With a sickening crunch, the man didn't move again. James recovered in the time that his father had dealt with the two Death Eaters.

"_Stupefy_," James launched his signature spell at one of the Death Eaters. The red beam hit and dropped the Death Eater. The problem was with the last Death Eater. The man spun and cast his most wicked spell.

"_Avada Kedavra_," the last Death Eater hissed. He wasn't aiming at James, not even at Mr. Potter. The treacherous cad had targeted the one Potter who was completely defenceless. The Death Eater laughed.

"No!" James cried out, but he was too late. Time crawled as Emilie Potter's body dropped to the ground. Sound evaporated from the room; James didn't hear his father knock the last Death Eater out and he certainly didn't hear Sirius come into the room. The pain in his chest burst more strongly than any spell could.

"Mum?" James was on the ground when he crawled over to her body. She looked like she had fallen asleep peacefully and could wake up at any moment. There wasn't a mark on her body.

"Come on, son. We have to get out of here for a while," Mr. Potter dropped to his knee next to James, who turned to see tears pouring down his father's face.

"Dad?" James froze. He knew it wasn't the time to stew in their loss.

"Come on, Prongs," Sirius said quietly, "these guys probably have allies waiting..."

There was a loud bang over their house. Green light seeped through the kitchen windows. Undoubtedly, Sirius was right and they had placed the Dark Mark over the house. There were Death Eaters out there. James pulled himself up, fury burning in his eyes. Before he could make for the door, Mr. Potter grabbed his arms.

"James, leave them to me. You two are too young-" Mr. Potter commanded. The strictness of his voice made James stop. Mr. Potter meant business when he used that tone, and James wasn't about to get in the way.

"But Dad..."

"You two get to a safe place," Mr. Potter commanded, "and stay there."

"What about-"

"Son, listen to me... Don't do anything that your mother wouldn't approve of," Mr. Potter gave a glacial look to his son, "in your mother's name, get going already."

Sorely, James allowed Sirius to take him by the arm. They both knew where they had to go. The safest place for them to go would be Gail's house, which the Death Eaters thought had burned to the ground. Unfortunately, it was three in the morning. Padfoot apparated right in front of Gail's ridiculously small cottage and pulled James up the steps and onto the little porch. With a heavy hand to match the mood, Sirius pounded on the door. Within seconds, Gail swung the door open and stared at them with her large brown eyes.

* * *

"James? Sirius?" Gail questioned groggily. There was a scent of fear on the two boys who promptly swept into the room without a word. All she could do was close the door behind them.

"Moony asleep?" Sirius asked. Gail could only nod, causing the dark haired teen to wander into the bedroom. Within seconds, Remus and Sirius came out of the room. The mood was so sombre that it was making Gail feel uncomfortable in her own kitchen.

"We don't have time to talk," Sirius said quickly, "Moony and I will be going to his parents house to tell them what happened and wait for the Ministry officials. Watch over Prongs for us, okay? No one should know that he's here."

With that, Sirius and Remus left. Oddly enough, they were both still wearing their Pyjamas. Gail was now fully awake and able to examine James, who remained standing. With the disappearance of his friends, he seemed to slump into the dark, depressed corners of his mind. He refused to look at her and kept his eyes on the floor. He didn't make a move for a chair, even though he looked exhausted.

"I should be with my dad," James finally burst out, snapping his head up to look frantically around the room. His eyes hit the door and he made a move towards it.

Gail caught him around the stomach to prevent him from leaving, noticing him tense up again. He seemed to take notice of Gail for the first time since he had arrived. It just showed how large the presence of his mates were in his subconscious mind.

"Let me go," James half-whimpered. For a moment, Gail thought he would cry. There were no tears in his eyes, though. There was only anger and perhaps some self pity.

"Let me go," he pleaded again, a little more forcefully, "I couldn't save her, but I can help Dad... I can help him. WHY AREN'T YOU LETTING GO?"

"James," Gail couldn't say anything, "don't leave, okay? Stay here."

"I have to go. I have to-" James was looking around frantically and trying to pry Gail's arms off of him. He was at a disadvantage, though. Gail spent hours moving creatures that didn't want to be moved; holding creatures that didn't want to be held.

"James Potter!" Gail finally snapped tiredly at him. That called his attention back to her. He seemed to calm down for a moment, before his hand went for his wand.

"James, tell me what's happening," Gail asked in the most soothing voice she could muster, "if there's anything we can do, I'll go with you... But not until you tell me what's happened."

"They attacked," James said frantically, trying to get it all out so that he could go; so that the short girl would release him, "the Death Eaters. They... Killed her."

"Killed who?" Gail questioned, eyes expanding in horror.

"M-mum," with that, James seemed to tense for a moment as if to prevent the onslaught of emotions. He seemed to gain some composure after a moment after he noticed Gail sympathetic tears.

"Not again," Gail sobbed, finally releasing James' waist and taking a step back. Flashes of Mr. Prewett's crumpled corpse filled her mind and were joined by images of Mrs. Prewett and now Mrs. Potter. The tears rose in Gail for their deaths and flowed freely for James' loss. She couldn't find words for him.

* * *

James seemed to waver for a moment, incapable of deciding whether or not to stay with his friend or go help his father. She started crying, bloody hell. Women always resort to tears when they want something.

"Gail-" James grabbed the short, lumpy girl and pulled her into a hug. He did his best to soothe her tears away, but it only made the girl cry harder.

"First Mr. Prewett," Gail croaked loudly into his shoulder, effectively rubbing some boogeys onto his shoulder, "and now your mum- I'm sorry, James."

"It's not your fault, Gail," James forced a smile onto his cold face, "now see here. My shoulder is not a tissue. If anything, I should be crying on _your_ shoulder."

Gail sniffed loudly before chuckling at his weak excuse for a joke. James didn't push her away. Instead, he acted as only he could. He continued to tell her one weak joke after another, pretending that his ego hadn't been shredded the moment his mother's light had been doused. He was quite glad that Gail couldn't see the tears stinging his face.

Gail's little house elf was awake, and graciously turned her attention away from the pair of them and prepared a pot of tea. The little kitchen table was set with a kettle releasing a nice fragrance within minutes. A small tray of cookies reminded James that he hadn't eaten in hours. Gail seemed to notice this and gestured at the seat. She then poured two cups of tea and sat down across from James. The tea calmed him down quite a bit and made his stomach happier. With his brain in order, he explained to Gail what had happened more coherently.

"I'm sure your mum would want you to pass your NEWTs before heading out to kill all of the Dark Wizards in the world, James," Gail commented quietly, "I think you're dad's right. You should lay low in case they're looking for you and your dad-"

"-and he can operate more effectively without having to worry about me. I know." James finished off her sentence. It was the exact same argument Gail had used the last time Mr. Potter had been in danger.

Gail sighed and ran a finger across her eyes. She had red splotches on her face from crying. It reminded James of Lily, who always became blotchy and red whenever she was upset. It felt like he hadn't seen her in years, when it had only been a week and a little bit. The thought struck him like lightning.

"Can we go visit Evans?" James asked as casually as he could, "you know where she lives, right?"

"Er, well-" Gail started to deny him, but one look in the eyes and she was done for, "fine, but you have to be on your best behaviour, James. No arguing and you have to act like a nice boy. She lives with her parents, after all."

"That's fine," James nodded in agreement, "I just feel- y'know. If I see Evans for a bit, it'll be enough to take my mind off of things. The least I can do is, well, apologize for being a git and tormenting her in school. Life is too short to waste on things like that."

Even in his circumstances, James was able to feel slightly happy. It wasn't the same feeling as before. A week ago, he would have jumped on the idea of visiting Lily, but now there was a damper on his feelings. His happiness was weak, and he could only seek solace from his friends. Gail patted his back.

"Alright, let me get changed... erm, maybe you should transfigure your clothes, or something. Aren't you trying to impress Lily?"

While Gail wandered off into her bedroom, James was left alone in the kitchen to try and figure out how best to transfigure his clothes. He settled on a pair of slacks and a long sleeved shirt- things he had seen muggles wearing. He ran a hand through his hair, wondering if it was worthwhile trying to get it to flatten. Gail interrupted his thoughts when she entered looking far more put together than five minutes prior.

"Are you sure you want to go?" Gail asked finally, "Lily might be a little upset with us if we show up for breakfast."

"I'm sure she'll forgive _you_," James laughed sourly, with no real feeling behind it.

"Fine, come stand on the porch and take my arm. I'll try to get us close to her house. Flink, would you be a dear and head to the nursery today? Tell Henry that an emergency came up and I won't be able to make it in today. Ah, tell him I'll come in on my day off, instead," Gail sighed after witnessing the little half elf bob her head in agreement. Gail lead James out of the house by his arm.

James latched his arm onto Gail's firmly. She apparated with him in tow. In transit, everything was muggy and the feeling of being squeezed through a straw met him in full force. By the time his feet touched down, he was feeling worse than the time he rode his broom backwards and upside down on a dare. He could have apparated himself there with all of his guts still in place.

"Sorry," Gail muttered anxiously, doing her best to make him feel better by rubbing his back, "I forgot to tell you that people get very sick after side-along apparating with me. You'll be alright in a minute, I'm sure."

And so he was. James straightened up and looked around the cheerful muggle neighbourhood they had landed in. Luckily, it was still quite early in the morning and no muggles were outside yet, or they would have found it odd that two, young adults appeared out of no where.

"This is where she grew up?" James asked curiously, trying to take it all in at once. For a moment, his mother was far from his mind, but remembering her brought a level of sombre anxiety back to him.

"Yes, I suppose this is where she grew up... That's her house over there," Gail pointed at a lovely white house. The garden in the front was well maintained, but James didn't really have any interest in that. He had noticed that there was a light on upstairs. Gail lead the way to the front door and used the muggle bell button. Instinctively, James reached a finger forward to mimic what Gail had done and was promptly swatted for it. The door swung open before he could protest his treatment. Standing in the doorway was James' golden goddess, a messy red haired woman, half asleep.

"Gail?" Lily yawned, "what are you doing here? Why'd you bring _him_?"

"We've had a rough night," Gail complained sweetly enough, "invite us in for breakfast, okay?"

Lily rested her emerald eyes on James as if he was a plague. All he could do was hang his head. What was he thinking coming here? A welcoming party. The next thing that escaped from Lily's mouth shocked him.

"Something happened, didn't it? Come in- both of you. Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes," Lily ushered them in before James could even think about saying a word.

"James' parents were attacked," Gail explained smoothly to Lily as they entered the sitting room, "his mum didn't make it. When he arrived at my house, he was a mess and everything. After he calmed down, we decided to come here. I don't think my cottage is very safe at the moment. I hope that's alright?"

"It's fine," Lily's almond shaped eyes were wide with fear, "I'm just glad you're both okay."

With that, Lily turned her scrutinizing gaze to James, who merely bowed his head, "Potter, I'm sorry for your loss, but I don't think you could have done anything about it. You're lucky to be alive."

"I suppose I am," James finally found his voice. Along with his voice, there was some trace of courage left in him that prompted him to look Lily in the eyes, "and I'd like you to know that I'm sorry about acting like a git at school, Ev- Lily."

Lily smiled faintly as if what James was saying was ringing true in her ears, "I know you mean well, Potter, and you like to have fun, but you shouldn't laugh at the expense of others."

"Yeah- not going to do that anymore," James agreed, "the Death Eater was laughing when he killed my Mum. I get it now. It's not funny at all."

Lily blinked a few times, turning to Gail with a sad look. There was little that either girl could do for James, who had sunk into a grandfather chair.

"Ah, is it alright if I use your loo, Lily?" Gail asked suddenly. James looked at her in horror, he couldn't help it. Gail could have gone at her house! Why did girls have to be so troublesome.

"Yes, it's the little blue door down that hallway," Lily pointed in the general direction of the bathroom. Gail smiled at him as she left and James couldn't help thinking it was a cruel smile. Soon, he found himself sitting next to Lily with nothing to say. The redhead didn't look interested in starting a conversation, either.

"How has your summer been?" James finally asked, wanting to break the silence more than anything else.

"Dull," Lily responded stonily, "from what I've heard, yours was much more interesting."

James sighed. He deserved her insults, but he wasn't going to lay down and let her step all over him, "you might think it's interesting, but being attacked by Death Eaters twice in two weeks has, well, put me on edge."

Lily looked slightly shaken for a moment. Nothing came out of her open mouth for a moment, until she finally shook her head, "I didn't mean-"

"I know you didn't," James sighed heavily, placing his forehead in his hand and resting his elbow on his knee. Pain welled up in his throat and ripped at his chest. Within seconds, Lily was kneeling beside the chair and staring up at him with soft green eyes.

"Sorry," James muttered softly, offering the beautiful woman a painful smile.

"Don't be. It's not your fault- it's those Death Eaters..." Lily trailed off, her eyes growing slightly unfocused and hazy.

"Those bloody, murdering Death Eaters," James agreed, fixing his own hazel eyes on Lily's sweet face, "can't believe that they'd attack a pair of nice folks like my parents- never hurt anyone..."

That choked James up slightly, causing him to struggle against the tears. He was feeling like he wanted to open up to Lily. Before, he had always tried to impress her. It was different now. She was a pair of arms to seek comfort in. Lily embraced his sitting form in a kindness he'd never seen in her before. Something in his chest told him that this was fine- was right, even. Everything in Lily's arms was perfect, the sun would rise again.

* * *

**Author Note:**

Oh my, you have no idea how teary I got writing this chapter, and when I was uploading it. I think most of us can't imagine the death of our mothers. It's an abstract concept, but I hope I was able to display some of James' pain and change.

I need to go blow my nose and wipe my eyes. Excuse me.

-_Rue_

_

* * *

  
_

**Apocolips**: Thank you! Ah... I'm feeling rather bad about this update. Aw, so you didn't go get any candy? Well, at least your evening sounds pleasant. I spent Halloween evening doing two papers and an art assignment. My mum likes to have Christmas lists early, too. She likes shopping early because she refuses to drive when there's snow on the roads. Hopefully, she'll buy me a tablet for Christmas.

**LaurenB16**: How could I forget you guys! Hopefully, you don't hate me after this chapter. And yes, Remushy is very adorable. Bwahaha~ I can't wait to show his temper off. Oh-la-la~.

**XxGrimmy**: YES JIMMY! DO IT!

Erm, yeah. In my mind, Gail tries to ignore anything "unnatural" about herself. There's a reason why she hasn't gone into the forest on her own, again.

Was the main character Mary Sue? I suppose she was, in some ways. But after a while, it's easy to see that the author is trying to pop holes in that sueyness. Helen (The Good Morrow) and Neville were huge influences on Gail, who's never perfect at anything except for her inherent traits and things she practices frequently. I think I still have the original background from her... somewhere on my hard drive.

Ah yes, Sirius Black: such a complicated guy. I will preserve his mysteriousness as best as I can. He's the genius rebel with no real cause for a majority of his life. One thing is for sure, he's not easy. Indeed, his whole life is very tragic.

**Musik Drache**: Thanks for the review. I'm very glad to see that you're still alive and reading!

**Krazykook**: Oh! I love museums. I could spend all day examining artifacts... but I think the Quidditch museum is a really cool place for kids and teenagers to hang out. Remember how popular "Quidditch through the ages" was, even though it was a history book? It's supposedly one of the more popular books in the library at Hogwarts because it's been well "loved" and vandalized over the years. I'm sure the same out apply for the museum... But I would love to eat the toffee brooms. Mmm.


	54. Chapter 54

**Chapter 54**

Gail stared at James and Lily from outside of the sitting room for a few minutes. It would have been way too awkward to walk in right then. Lily seemed to have her arms around James, who was blubbering. Well, he really did have a reason, in any case, and the redhead was great at getting people to cry. But what did it mean? Had they set aside their past differences in order to coexist? That was just too weird for Gail, but she was still unable to interrupt them.

"Ah, excuse me?" A deep voice floated over to Gail, almost causing her to jump out of her skin. She hadn't even noticed the presence of the distinguished looking blonde man.

"Oh! I'm sorry, Mr. Evans," Gail squeaked bashfully, loud enough to interrupt James and Lily. The redhead leapt up and almost ran to the door.

"Oh, father! You're up," Lily stared at her father for a moment. He stared back, at her before a slow smile formed on his face. Lily pulled her father and Gail back into the sitting room. Gail was relieved to note that James had wiped his face by the time Mr. Evans' had appeared.

"You two must be friends of Lily's, from school, right?" Mr. Evans beamed at them both, as if they were cooler than sliced bread.

"Yes, sir," Gail agreed, shaking hands with Lily's father amiably. It was simply a fact that parents found Gail to be outgoing when she turned her charm on, "my name is Gail Forester, and this fellow is my mate, James Potter."

"Ah, the troublemaker that our Lily has often complained about in her letters," Mr. Evans shook James' hand too, though the boy was too nervous to say anything to refute the claim against his demeanour, "we won't be having any of that in our house, understand?"

"Yes, sir," James nodded sullenly, almost wilting under Mr. Evans' golden stare.

"Well, now that everything is settled, I'll be making breakfast. It should be ready in about thirty minutes... I do hope that everything will be pleasant when Petunia and her husband arrive for dinner," Mr. Evans deliberately cast a look towards James again before leaving the room.

"It looks like we've intruded. I'm sorry, Lily," Gail piped up, only slightly worried that James was allowing others to poke at him without any recourse.

"It's fine," Lily commented dryly, "you can't possibly make things worse with Petunia. In fact, your presence might make hers a lot more bearable."

* * *

James wasn't impressed.

To say that he wasn't impressed wasn't _quite_ enough, either. He felt the pangs of disappointment when he laid his eyes on Lily's older sister, Petunia. She looked like a feather-less, blonde vulture with an extremely long neck. There was no way she could have been related to the voluptuous redhead. In fact, James was quite sure, after meeting Lily's mother, that the beauty had been adopted from a wizarding family. But then again, there was a chance that he could have been wrong, so he kept these thoughts to himself.

But he did snicker when he noticed Petunia's husband. The large man looked rather like Mulciber, except with a thicker, shorter neck and a few extra pounds. Vernon Dursley happened to look like one of the muggles that James had seen on the telly. Remus had called them "news rankers," or something like that.

"Petunia, dear, I'm so glad you could make it!" Mrs. Evans greeted the Dursleys, warmly ushering the couple into the house. Lily's mother graciously helped the couple by taking their coats. Petunia seemed to be expecting Lily to appear, but the redhead had stowed herself away in the bathroom. Gail was attempting to coax her out.

Petunia stopped short when she noticed James staring at her. The vulture's eyes ran over him before sharpening into a look that James recognized. She was glaring at him without really knowing him.

"Ah, Petunia, this is James Potter- one of Lily's friends," Mrs. Evans bubbly mood wouldn't be diminished, even when she introduced the two of them.

"I figured," Petunia snapped, stalking past without another word. The male Dursley followed Petunia without a word, staring at James as if he were a peculiarity.

James made a face behind their backs. He really didn't enjoy being treated rudely and was starting to understand just why Lily had confined herself to the bathroom.

"Who was at the door?" Gail's voice drifted over his shoulder. The tawny haired girl had planted herself in between James and Mrs. Evans.

"Oh, Gail dear!" Mrs. Evans took the girl by the arm and dragged her to away, "you simply must meet Lily's sister. I'm sure Petunia will just love you- you're like our Lily, aren't you? Your parent's couldn't do magic?"

"Er- yes, neither of my parents could do magic," Gail smiled faintly at James' incredulous look.

James, not wanting to spend any amount of time with Petunia and her husband, wandered down the hallway. He thought he heard some noises coming from behind the little blue door of the bathroom. James continued down the hall and peaked into each room. He eventually came across a lovely green room decorated in several posters and things.

"What do you think you're doing, Potter?"

James straightened, and swung around. He could feel his face burning as Lily was glowering at him.

"Thought you were in there," James fibbed coolly, "not going down to see your sister?"

"Don't test me, Potter," Lily pushed passed him and into her room. James couldn't help but noticed that she was slightly pale and had red splotches under her eyes from crying, "I'll go down when I'm ready."

"I don't envy you for being related to those two," James consoled Lily with a hint of grimace hanging on his face, "didn't seem very pleasant to me."

"Ah, you met them?" Lily laughed sarcastically, "Petunia is still mad at me, I guess."

"Fine friend you are," James snorted rudely after a momentary pause, giving Lily a disappointed look, "leaving Gail to be fed to two people who _don't_ like you."

"What?" Lily looked shocked, "Gail went- without me? This is no good... I can't go down there. Tuney doesn't want to see me."

"Come on, Evans," James coaxed her gently, "I'll go down with you and draw their attention away- just like on the train, okay?"

"I don't know," Lily wouldn't meet his eyes, but surprisingly enough, she was shuffling herself towards the door.

"Don't worry about it," James soothed, leading the way down the hall as he spoke.

* * *

"Petunia, let me introduce you to Lily's other friend. This is Gail, another student from Hogwarts."

Gail was staring at a remarkably unattractive, plain woman. At the mention of Hogwarts, one of Petunia's eyes twitched. Somehow, she seemed to dislike the magic school. Gail exteneded a hand, only to have it shaken by Petunia extremely briefly, like Gail had some contagious disease.

"Gail, this is Lily's older sister, Petunia, and her husband, Vernon," Mrs. Evans continued to chatter as Gail offered her hand to Vernon. He was a human-shaped walrus and somehow reminded Gail of Peter, with the exception of being a few pounds heavier. His huge paw encircled Gail's hand momentarily. He dropped her hand as briskly as his wife had.

"It's nice to meet both of you," Gail greeted them with a smile, hoping that the smile wasn't as painful looking as it felt. She really would have rather not met the Dursleys.

Gail stared at Petunia.

Petunia glared at Gail.

Vernon stared absently at both women.

"Ah, James dear! I see you've retrieved Lily," Mrs. Evans exclaimed happily, "just in time for dinner. Everyone, please move to the dining room."

Gail had never been so happy to see James and Lily together, even when the later had a mischeivious look in his eyes. James was planning something in his head. James' scheming wasn't as obvious as Sirius', but it was still evident to Gail. She just didn't know what he was planning. Lily looked slightly annoyed, but she wouldn't meet anyone's gaze.

Dinner was composed of warm ham sandwiches. Like all other meals that Gail had shared with James, it started off peacefully enough. After a few minutes, James charmed some plates to dance on legs made out of butterknives. Mr. Evans roared with laughter and clapped James on the back, praising the boy for being talented. Mrs. Evans did a double take before laughing cheerfully alongside her husband. Lily smiled faintly, as if worrying about whether or not to laugh at James' dancing plate. Gail couldn't help but laugh at the look of terror on the two Dursleys' faces. James didn't stop with normal dancing. The plates started to do the cancan right in front of Petunia, who was becoming more and more pale every second. She eventually fell backwards, out of her chair.

"Petunia!" Vernon huffed, lunging to catch his wife by the collar.

James smiled at his own abilities, but it was lacking in some of the humor he would normally show. Before Vernon could explode in anger, James delibrately made the plate return to its place on the table and become completely stationary.

"Dear James!" Mrs. Evans finally stopped laughing, "you certainly are as talented as our Lily. How delightful."

Gail could tell that James was enjoying the lavish attention from those that were still concious at the table. She hadn't seen the "show off" side of him in a while, and it made her feel somewhat relieved. James seemed to exercise a bit more restraint, though, showing as little of his ego as possible. He almost seemed humble as Mr. Evans clapped him on the back a second time. After a moment, Mrs. Evans turned to Gail expectantly.

"What about you, dear?" Mrs. Evans asked sweetly, "would you do a trick for us, too?"

That surprised Gail quite a bit. She hadn't been expecting to be asked to perform magic, as if it were a trick to amuse the adults. The way Mrs. Evans was looking at her was almost offensive; as if Gail were a muggle magician. In any event, it would have been rude to deny the Evans a small gift, because they were kind enough to allow both James and Gail to stay in their house for a while.

"Alright," Gail agreed grudgingly, pulling her wand out of her pocket slowly. With a flick of her wand, birds of several variations errupted from between the flowers in the vase that was sitting on the table. This didn't shock the Evans, Gail assumed because Lily was good at transfiguring objects into animals. But Lily wasn't as good at working with the animals as Gail was. On her signal, the birds manuvered in the air so that shapes could be formed over their heads. Mrs. Evans gasped and clapped frantically.

"Wonderful," Mr. Evans boomed, complimenting Gail's birds. Of course, that wasn't the end of the show. Gail stuck out her wand again, and forced the birds to fly into one spot. For a moment, the birds looked like they would colide and they did, causing an explosion of red and gold confetti to fall rain onto the table. Even James looked impressed.

"Well done, dear!" Mrs. Evans gasped, happily patting Gail on the shoulder.

"Show off," Lily muttered at Gail when she knew her parents weren't listening.

Dinner was over quickly enough. Vernon hauled his wife over to a couch and was glaring daggers at James. It was time for Gail and James to leave, before the female vulture could wake up.

"We'd better get back to my cottage to see if there's news," Gail spoke darkly to James and Lily.

"I don't know..." Lily hesitated with a look of worry in her emerald eyes.

"Padfoot and Moony will probably be back there now, and if they've found my Dad, I don't want him to worry," James explained, agreeing with Gail, "don't worry, I'll look after Gail."

The two of them stared at one another for a while, as if silently conducting an agreement. All the while, Gail couldn't decide whether or not to interrupt their meaningful moment. They seemed to reach an understanding and wordlessly nodded at one another. James turned and left the Evans' house through the back door first, leaving Gail to bid Lily farewell before jogging after him.

Once James was in the backyard, he spun on the spot. There was a sharp pop, signifying that James had apparated away.

"Too fast, James," Gail sighed to herself following his lead.

Gail landed a few feet away from her front steps. James had landed on the stoop easily. On further inspection, the boy had seemed to slump slightly, as if he had been barely holding himself together while he was around Lily and her family.

"Well done, James," Gail messed up his hair playfully, "I think her parents really like you."

The only response Gail received was a grunt. She didn't fail to notice James' cheeks turning a bright crimson color, at the fact. He seemed rather pleased that he had behaved himself more than usual. Smiling in fondness to herself, Gail sidled over and slid the door open.

"Hey Flink, we're back," Gail called to the house elf. In return, she was greeted quite warmly by a pair of lean arms and a body that smelt like new parchment, butterbeer and dried leaves.

"Took you two long enough," Sirius drawled, leaning a kitchen chair back on two legs and balancing as best he could. It seemed that he had been bored while waiting in the small cottage.

"Did you find my Dad?" The first words that came from James' mouth were addressed to Sirius. The haughty boy nodded and settled his chair back down as he leaned forward.

"He caught five other Death Eaters that were stalking around your house," Sirius explained blatantly, "and he'll be staying with Moony's parents for a few days. And he doesn't want us staying in seperate places, so he said it was alright that we stay here."

"I'm not sure there's enough room here for the three of you," Gail mumbled, still enfolded in Remus' arms, even though the other two marauders were giving them estranged looks.

"Don't worry about that," Sirius laughed sarcastically, "I looked up a few spells that will solve our problems."

"Hold on, Sirius. You're not going to adjust the cottage permanently or anything," Gail peeked over at him with a worried look, "I don't have permission to change anything."

"They should be glad we're increasing this _shed's_ worth," Sirius shrugged nonchantly, "in any case, it's easy enough to remove the spells."

"Wait-" Gail protested, but Sirius had jumped up and started to unfurl his plans to James. The two boys stuck their heads together and had a jolly meeting about what spells to use on Gail's cottage. She couldn't help but feel worried while she was watching them.

"Don't worry about it so much. They're just being helpful," Remus soothed resting his cheek on her forhead. When he noticed that the two boys weren't paying attention to him, he continued to talk quietly, "I think Padfoot is just focused on keeping Prong's attention away from... things."

"Hmm," Gail agreed peacefully, burrowing her face in his shoulder. Just as she was settling into Remus' comforting embrace, a she noticed something interesting. By her estimates, Remus was still growing: his robes seemed smaller than ever. Sirius and James were taller than Remus, but all three were taller than her. It was rather unfair- and this train of thoughts lead Gail to believe that she should rub her sharp chin in the soft flesh in between Remus' shoulder and collarbone.

"Ouch- hey!" Remus pulled her head off of himself and stared down at her with feigned anger, "just what do you think you're doing, my little Vega?"

"Making you shrink," Gail remarked sarcastically and not laughing at her own joke, "aren't I nice?"

"Why would you think- Wait a second, Sirius, you're doing it wrong," with that, Remus joined his two friends in planning the 'great expansion'. The thought made Gail feel somewhat desolate. Instead of kicking up a fuss, she shuffled into the bedroom and decided that she would have a nap while the boys were playing. Remus would be able to make sure that the two others didn't do anything dangerous.

Or so she had been hoping to have a nap. She quickly became uneasy. What she found on her bed stunned her. Shocked, she inched towards the bed as if it could explode at any time. Laying on her pillow was a pink envelope with a delicate coral coloured ribon tied onto it. Undoubtedly pink- the kind that muggle women loved to receive on Valentines Day.

Gail was reasonably assured that the letter wouldn't detonate and had simply been left there by an owl. Unfortunately, she couldn't think of anyone that would send her such a gaudy thing, so she would have to open it to find out. Pinching the envelope between her thumb and pointer finger, Gail gently removed the ribbon and tossed it aside. Gingerly, Gail opened the envelope to find a delicate peice of scented parchment within. The edges of the paper had been crimped to appear frilly. Soon, all Gail could smell was sandalwood and sprigs of mint. She held the note at arms length as she read it.

And read it again a few more times. It took a few minutes to sink in. She had never received a love letter before. Gail finally read it out loud to try and make the contents sink in.

_My Beloved Gail,_

_The ocean has been sundered, as my heart. Never before have I seen a woman of such fine beauty with profound eyes and the hair of a pink sunrise. I feel the tender caress of your presence more and more each day, almost as much as I feel the iron gate of your absence. The distance between us is too great, I fear. I yearn to close the gap, my love! My sweet nightingale, bird of my joy. I want as the moon, to brush its lips against the crimson of the sun. I hope you will come to think of me, as well. I will serve you and your glory as no other can._

_Please choose me, my love, my bird. For I love you more than any other. _

_Yours forevermore on your word,  
Kyle Singe._

Gail couldn't help but laugh. It was a joke, surely. No boy in their right mind would send Gail such a self centered, sappy love note. Gail crumpled it up, as if it didn't exist to her, and tossed it over the side of her bed. Ignoring the pangs of anxiety and worry, she slid under the covers on her bed and was soon claimed by sleep.

* * *

**Author Note:**

Before you ask, dinner is lunch, the midday meal. Supper is the evening meal- as told by my intelligent, little Grammy.

Gail got a love letter from Kyle Singe, one of her coworkers. Seems pretty fishy to me...

Well, this chapter is a lot more upbeat. James is upset that Petunia doesn't look like her sister. The world needs more pretty girls, like Lily.

-Rue

* * *

**Apocolips**: Don't worry! This chapter is slightly more upbeat. I cried before I started writing chapter 53. I really didn't want to write it, and I still feel... Sad. Alas, the story must continue.

**Krazykook**: I had to do it! HAD TO! James will progress as a human being if I have to drag him around by his ear! I believe that James and Lily are quite the possibility now.

**LaurenB16**: Thank you. I'm glad I'm not hated. I'm a little bit sad that I didn't have time to include Mr. Potter in this chapter, but he's... wow, he's such a man, you know? If James is anything like his father.

**Musik Drache**: Ah, no worries. Take your time and enjoy.

**XxGrimmy:** Tissues, tissues! You won't need one for this chapter, I'm happy to admit. Now let's see. About Gail going back to the forest? Yes, she will eventually have to go back in order to get everything straightened out, but I'm not going to disclose when or how. Yes, I found it. Check your messages. Oh, Walburga. I pity her, she must have had a sleu of horrible nicknames as a kid.


	55. Chapter 55

**Chapter 55**

Their work was complete by the time the sun started to go down and James couldn't help but marvel at it. They had transformed the inside of the small cottage into the inside of... a larger cottage. Because of the large amount of work that the three marauders had to do, they had never been so glad to have magic. It would have been horrendous to do everything manually.

James, Sirius and Remus had successfully added another room onto the house by transfiguring some of the trees that grew around the backside of the cottage. The new room was hidden from muggles with a few charms- that Sirius had found in books that he'd nicked from his parent's house. For a door, James had transfigured a peice of the wall, connecting the new room to the kitchen. Their new room looked similar to the Griffindor common room when they were finished. The second room still wasn't a lot of space, though.

Remus added a second floor into the new room through a bit of ingenuity and a strong shielding charm. Sirius had transfigured a tiny staircase from some branches that he found outside, before using a growing charm to make the staircase the right size. The boys also used the spell that made the inside of tents larger than the outside to make the walls and roof ballooned out. They had also expanded the bathroom and transfigured the shower into a full sized bathtube.

With their invisible second floor hovering above their new room, James flung Gail's bedroom door open to find the mousey girl asleep on her bed.

"Wake up, Gail, we're finished," James spoke without even thinking about playing a joke on her. He strode over to the bed before pausing. Without looking at the ground, he had stepped on to a piece of paper.

Bending over, James scooped the little, balled-up note into his palm. Gail was still breathing heavily and hadn't even moved. He noticed the smell before he could even examine the paper. Without a second thought, James smoothed the note out and glanced at it. His jaw dropped and he couldn't help but chuckle.

"Prongs, what are you doing- what's that?" Sirius was beside James in a second, reading over his shoulder. Sirius was soon laughing as hard as he could, bracing himself on James' shoulder. Tears rolled down the dark haired boy's face.

"Padfoot, Prongs, what's going on?" Remus drifted over to the too. His eyes were fixed on Gail, though, who was still burrowed in the folds of her bed. She must have been tuckered out, not even waking up when Sirius was laughing so loudly. James made a move to shove the love note into his pocket, but was foiled by Sirius.

"Look at this," Sirius snatched the scented parchment from James' hand and handed it to Remus. Way to go, Padfoot! Causing havock and drama was what he did best. Everything was going fine until Remus' eyes hit the bottom of the note. Remus immediately crunched the letter in a fist.

"Excuse us for a minute," Remus gave them a look. James knew it was time for them to leave. He immediately pulled Sirius out of the room. Padfoot was still laughing like the note was hillarious, until James jabbed him in the stomach.

"Enough already," James hissed, closing the door and leaning against it.

They stood at the door because James and Sirius were such good friends of Remus. They were there in case Gail had given serious thought to the love note and had decided to smash Moony's heart into a thousand pieces. Of course, James didn't have the time to tell Remus that the note was obviously discarded when he stepped on it.

* * *

Gail awoke slowly to hand shaking her shoulder gently. It took her a second to remember that the boys were remodelling the cottage. She bolted up and gasped for breath, causing her her forhead to colide right into Remus' cheekbone.

"Ouch," Gail groaned, rubbing her forhead. Remus didn't really move, he simply continued to loom over her.

"What's going on, Remus?" Gail asked with her hands still massaging her forhead, unaware that the others had been asking the same question moments before.

Remus didn't respond for a moment. He had a mad look in his eyes, and his white fist was clenched around something. He suck his fist out and dropped the note to her lap. It took Gail a second to realize what she was looking at. The unpleasant smell wafted to her nose. She flicked the paper away with a look of distaste on her face and turned her dark eyes back to Remus. The werewolf in Remus seemed to calm down after witnessing her reaction to the note.

"What's going on? That piece of rubbish stinks," Gail smiled fondly at Remus, moving in to give him a sweet kiss.

"Mmm- thought you had a secret lover," Remus muttered darkly, pressing his lips against hers a bit more forcefully. He was more passionate than usual. Gail could have sworn that she felt his tongue slide across her bottom lip.

Gail pulled away, aware that they were situated on her bed, and Remus was pushing his luck. He seemed mildly peeved for a moment, before running a hand through his sandy brown hair.

"Sorry," Remus muttered quietly, resting his face in his hands. Gail could help but scoot forward to trace where his hands had been, along his scalp and through his hair. She hadn't been close enough to notice before, but there were strands of silver present in his hair, likely caused by his affliction and the stress of said affliction. Patches of his hair were coarse in places and smooth in others. Running her hands through his hair was strangely pleasing, and Remus seemed to enjoy the moment, too.

"So you thought I was secretly seeing- who was it, Kyle Singe? That we were having secret rendevous at work when you weren't looking?" Gail asked, putting on a sweet voice as she pushed Remus' hair out of his face. His face was slightly warmer than her hands.

"Er-" Remus paused for a moment to study Gail with a doe-like expression on his face, "yes. Sorry."

Gail laughed cheerfully and leaned her shoulder against his arm. He seemed to stiffen for a moment, before relaxing. They remained quiet for a moment before Gail decided to talk.

"You can have a talk with Singe, if you want. Tell him to leave me alone- or whatever makes your ego feel better."

The idea seemed to perk Remus up quite a bit. He smiled sweetly at Gail before standing up and sweeping towards the door, "we'd better let those two know that we haven't killed one another. So they can stop listening at the door."

With the last three words he spoke, Remus swung the door open and admitted his two friends into the room. They were both wearing bashful looks. Gail ignored Sirius' stare. She probably had bedhead and he was staring at her like she had a few extra heads. James was laughing nervously for some reason.

"Alright, Moony?"

"Fine, Prongs. Just fine."

"JAMES POTTER." A deep voice echoed through the now-cavernous kitchen before Gail could even open her mouth to scold the meddling boys. James' father had arrived and his voice resounded through the cottage with a twinge of worry.

"Dad? I thought you were staying with the Lupins. Everything alright?" James wandered into the kitchen with a stream of his friends behind him. Gail almost felt out of place there, but she remembered how kind the Potters had been to her and those feelings melted. Even Gail could tell that Mr. Potter had seen better days. The normal mirth in his eyes had fled and he didn't even smile when he greeted the residents of the small cottage.

"You weren't here this morning," Mr. Potter said sullenly, after pulling out of a quick embrace with his son.

"Sorry, we thought it wouldn't be a good idea to remain here. Just in case," James was speaking, but his voice seemed eerily steady. He seemed to be examining his father for traces of depression.

Gail had been worried that Mr. Potter would end up in the same position as Mrs. Prewett after the death of her husband. She knew she didn't have to worry after studying Mr. Potter for a few seconds, though. He had a strong look of determination in his weathered eyes. He was firmly telling James not to be so reckless. Travelling was extremely hazardous these days, since the Death Eaters were gaining even more power.

"Vampires," Mr. Potter was saying, "a majority of them have joined _him_, too- rumors that I doubt. Vampires are far too proud to play second string to a bunch of wizards."

"I don't think the vampires would join him- they normally dislike being controlled by humans as much as centaurs, perhaps more." Gail commented dryly, aware that four pairs of eyes were focused on her when she spoke, "for them, it's like us being controlled by cows, chicken or sheep- utterly humiliating. Besides, they're not all evil."

"There you have it, Dad," James spoke cheerfully enough, "creature expert Gail has spoken."

Mr. Potter nodded, "Dumbledore echoed the same statements. He thought the vampires would want to stay out of a wizarding war."

"If they were smart, they would," Sirius growled moodily. His gaze was fixed on the table as he continued speaking, "what about the dementors?"

"So far, they're still sided with the Ministry," Mr. Potter sighed heavily, "but they might not be for long. Not if _he_ offers them more. So far, he's more interested in human followers- because they're more adept and easier to control with foul means. He wants havock- and he has it. The Ministry really can't do anything to stop the attacks, they always arrive too late and people just don't know the proper procedures to protect themselves."

Gail assumed that what Mr. Potter meant by "people" was "people like us."

"The aurors are inspecting our house. We should be able to go back in a few days," Mr. Potter continued. His weathered face froze in pain at the thought of going back, only to melt a second later. Gail assumed he was thinking about his deceased wife.

"We'll be holding her funeral next week. Until then, it would be for the best if you stay with Gail, if she'll have you," Mr. Potter finally spoke again after a moment of sombre silence. His voice was like the crack of a pistol. How could Gail have forgotten that the two remaining men would have to burry Mrs. Potter. The thought made her chest hurt. Gail had to swallow around the lump in her throat.

"Of course James- and Sirius- can stay here," Gail found a voice that was not her own. It was somehow detached from her overwhelming senses.

"Thank you," Mr. Potter smiled as best as he could, even though he was obviously in pain, "I should get going now. You boys be good and keep each other safe."

With that, Mr. Potter exited the little cottage as quickly as he had come.

* * *

Gail was dragging all three boys along with her to work the next day. There was no way she would leave them alone at the cottage. She had assumed that they would torment Flink or burn the whole place down. James, always interested in seeing new things and having adventures, was more excited about it than either of his mates. Sirius was grumpy after being awoken quite early in the morning and Remus was scowling at everything with a permanent grimace on his face. So there the three boys were, waiting outside while Gail was fetching her pet crup.

"Geez Moony, what did the tree ever do to you? Someone'll think you don't like trees, from the way you keep glaring at it." James was teasing his friend to lighten the mood, but it didn't really have the right affect. Moony's eyes narrowed and he continued to glare at the leafy tops of the willow trees.

"I think he just misses the great whomper," Sirius chiped in, "he gets lonely without Greg."

"Padfoot, mate! You must be losing it," James flung his arm around Sirius and laughed momentarily, "we've never named the whomping willow 'Greg,' have we?"

Remus snorted indignantly, turning his eyes to Gail and the little dog.

"Remus, take Sirius and apparate over there. I'll take James."

"No way. I'm going with Moony, I've already _done my time_ with you," James vetoed that idea, sticking close to Remus. Last time, he had thrown up in his mouth. Gail was horrible at apparating.

"No way, I'm going with Moony too," Sirius was standing on Remus' other side, staring warily at Gail. His fear was correct. Maybe Moony had told him about Gail's poor excuse of apparating. Gail glared furiously at all three of them before lunging forward and taking hold of Sirius' arm. In a flash, the two of them were gone and James was left standing next to Remus.

A very harrassed looking Moony grabbed James by the shoulder and apparated. There was no motion sickness in James' stomach afterwards, either. It was a pity that Sirius was hunched over a few feet away, evacuating his stomach of its breakfast contents. His apparition sickness must have been severe. Gail, the woman of stone, had no sympathy for him and simply stepped around him.

"Padfoot! My mate- Watch where you're aiming that," Jame patted Sirius on the back, stepping around the pool of vomit and following Gail into the large greenhouse-like building. The stench hit him when he entered. Definitely the living quarter of many little animals. Remus passed by James with Sirius on his heels.

"Urgh," Sirius held a hand over his nose, "stinks like Kreacher in here."

"More workers? Wonderful, Gail," a masculine voice errupted from James' right, "you two boys can help clean out the stalls today."

"No way," Sirius glared at the man as if he was calculating whether or not he could hex the man and get away with it.

"Psst, Padfoot," James pulled Sirius close and whispered, "Gail works here. Don't do anything to get her in trouble- or else she will be a plague for both of us. You know how much she _knows_, right?"

Sirius grudgingly nodded, and sulked as if he had been sentenced to a life sentence in Azkaban.

* * *

Gail couldn't believe her eyes when she saw Sirius and James shoveling piles of dung out of the stalls. They were working without complaining, even though Sirius looked like he was going to kill someone. She could barely hear him, but she supposed he was muttering huffily about on and on about 'a poor use of his skills' or something like that.

This was good enough revenge for every bad pranks the two boys had ever played on anyone, including Gail and the rest of the students at Hogwarts. She wouldn't forget this moment. It was truly a heartwarming experience to see Sirius sweating and mad, shoveling animal feces. James was a lot more stoic about the whole thing- but he still looked like he wasn't enjoying himself.

Meanwhile, Remus had gone missing while Gail was too busy watching over the fallen marauders. It was strange for him to not be around, he usually stuck fairily close to her. She had a rough idea of where he'd gone. The french intern was still at work early, but Kyle Singe was nowhere to be seen.

Sure enough, Remus had called the Hufflepuff out and was giving him a good lecturing. Gail wished she had borrowed James' invisibility cloak, so she could go listen to her boyfriend defend her. The best she could do was weasle herself in between two winged horses to watch them talk outside. Things looked really tense between the two boys, from what Gail could see on the other side of the glass wall. It must have been hard for Remus, who always wanted people to like him.

Singe was laughing suddenly with a rather rude look on his face, Gail could have sworn that she saw him mouth 'coward'. The next moment, Remus' wand was drawn and he was practically breathing fire at the Hufflepuff, who stopped laughing immediately and held his hands up in appology. That solved everything. Remus backed off and stalked back into the greenhouse.

When Gail "ran into him," he already look very put-out.

"Thank you," Gail beamed at him, "you solved that little matter, right?"

"Yes," Remus confirmed, snaking an arm around her for a second, "back to work. Henry wants my help with the some of the dark creatures- they got a new shipment of hinkypunks in and they need to be sectioned off and sent to the different schools."

With that, Remus walked away as quickly as he could, stopping only to have a word with James and Sirius. He didn't pause to look back, but Gail could tell the whole thing had flustered him like a bad rash. The tops of his ears were quite red.

Kyle Singe was a lot slower to come back inside. When he noted that Remus was gone, he stood next to Gail without a word. When she didn't say anything to him, he opened his mouth to speak.

"Why'd you show my note to him?" Singe asked angrily, "don't you have any manners?"

"Why no, I don't believe I have any manners- least of all for someone that only hits on- well, someone else's girlfriend," Gail commented dryly, "and the hogwash about being better than him? Bullcrap."

Furiously, Singe rounded on her and glared ruthlessly. He had an air about him that made Gail think of an aristocrate. That was exactly what Singe was: a bossy, annoying _noble_ who thought he was better than everyone else. It was no surprise what he wanted to ask when he spoke, "what do you see in _him_? He's a bloody pushover- a coward."

"He's no coward and I would watch my mouth if I were you. The two over there are looking at you and you could become a target for some nasty spells, care of their _love_," Gail snapped before continuing more gently, "I chose Remus. That's all that you need to worry about. Now get back to work before I complain to Henry about your _advances_."

Wordlessly, Singe swung around and walked jerkily away, as if he had burned the bottoms of his feet. Gail, relieved about the confrontation being over, finally relaxed. The muscles in her next had become tense over the last few minutes and were twinging painfully. At least that ordeal was over, for now.

* * *

**Author Note**:

Kyle Singe, ladies and gentlemen. He's a bit stuck up, if I do say so myself. Hopefully he will make a few more appearances. He doesn't seem to like Remus very much, hm?

Sorry about the late update. I dragged my feet a bit today. Not feeling so good.

-Rue

* * *

**Apocolips**: Yes! I'm glad you got the idea. My brothers used to kid about tying rocks to my head to keep me from growing – that's why I'm so much shorter than them! Thank you for the review.

**XxGrimmy**: Haha~ Well, I imagine that Petunia looks like a vulture and Vernon looks like a toad. Walburga, walrus iceburge. Yes, Gail crushes boys completely. Haha.

**Revvy**: What do you mean by "done?" I'm just curious. Yes, the beginning of the story is rather like Cinderella- but hopefully, I'll be able to spin it away from the norm. Or at least make it long enough that you forget how horrible the beginning is. I am a weird author, but not so weird that Gail would remain creepy for the entire story. Thanks for the input, anyway.


	56. Chapter 56

**Chapter 56**

It was a horrible day. Large clouds swarmed in the sky like a plague and completely blocked out the sun. Thick fog hung onto the ground in waves, a break in the ocean of solitude. The rain began shortly after noon; it started with thin peals of rain and quickly became more powerful. It was not the most beautiful day to bury a mother. Everything was soggy and dripping. Gail had hoped they would be able to share the sunshine with Mrs. Potter one last time. It didn't look like it would be so. The sky was determined to improve the mournful atmosphere.

They residents of the small cottage, which the boys had taken to calling a variety of rude names, had all obliged Mr. Potter by wearing their best robes. Gail had never seen James look so tidy- his hair was almost completely flat because of the humidity. His robes were neatly pressed and there were no wrinkles in sight. James' dark shadow looked equally neat, wearing robes that make him look a tad bit snooty. At least Remus still looked like normal, though Gail wondered if he hadn't used a growing spell on his robes, which were the right size. Each boy conjured a black umbrella for themselves before apparating, one at a time, to the graveyard in Godric's Hollow.

The graveyard was utterly still and morbid. Just being there made the hairs on the back of Gail's neck stand up. She did her best not to stare at the tombstones of the people she didn't know as she walked along, sharing Remus' umbrella to keep herself dry. Soon enough, James' mother would be just another body in the ground with nothing more than a chunk of rock to show that she had ever been alive. Yes, the cemetery was morbid.

Very few people made an appearance at the funeral, including the Lupins and Bathilda Bagshot. It was likely because of fear or stupidity. Being the target of Death Eaters wasn't something you could catch, like dragon pox. The absence of mourners didn't deter the remaining Potters, though. James, Mr. Potter and Sirius had one another for company. The three men stood separately together as the casket was placed in the ground.

Gail was glad to have Remus with her. They shared an umbrella, and huddled together underneath the black object. Remus' presence partially blocked out the cold, damp intrusion of the rain. For a few moments, he would rest one of his warm hands on her lower back. At other times, he would rest his shoulder against hers. When they walked, their hands were connected on the umbrella's handle. His presence kept the tears at bay so that she could keep a close eye on the Potters.

James had a disturbingly tranquil look on his face, one that Gail wouldn't forget very easily. He had come to grips with Emilie Potter's, even if he was still immensely sad about it. The ceremony continued on like a blurry dream. Even the rain seemed to ease and fall asleep for a few moments while James said his last good bye to his mother.

Gail switched her eyes over one face to the left. Sirius stood quietly, acting his part as James' right hand man. He kept guard in an intense silence. He seemed to be glaring at the great big hole, as if he was mad at it for enfolding Mrs. Potter in a den of security. Gail continued to watch Sirius struggle with his internal anger. She was too worried, or perhaps afraid, to look at Mr. Potter's face as his wife's casket was being covered in slimy, wet earth. Even when Mr. Potter moved to speak about his wife, Gail continued to examine the boys.

James, to Gail's awe and dismay, remained strong. His light radiated to each person there, though Gail was sure she was the only one to notice. Neither smiling or crying, James had the very face of all that was good in the world. The hope that reverberated in his eyes would not be diminished so easily. From the look in his eyes, Gail knew he was making promises to his mother; ones that he would keep. The funeral continued to slowly drift by Gail, leaving her feel like she was stationary and everything else was crawling around her.

"Come on, Gail, it's time to go," Remus spoke softly, gently directing her with the slightest touch on her back, "the others are leaving."

The grim parade marched back down the street and into the Potter's residence. Dressed in black with mysterious matching umbrellas, onlookers couldn't mistake the train of mourners for anything other than a funeral procession. In memory of Emilie Potter, the small group would share a meal at the house before disbursing.

Gail was in a haze, burdened with controlling her own emotions. She had done well for most of the day, keeping herself from weeping like a child. She didn't notice that Remus guided her into a chair next to James. She was mildly aware that they were sitting at was the same one that Mrs. Potter always served her food on. Likewise, she was aware of her own movements as she dropped different things onto her plate as James handed them to her. After the food had been passed around the table, Gail was finally able to register what she had put on her plate. Gail couldn't help but cry into her mashed potatoes.

* * *

"Where is she, Potter?"

The redhead had shown up a few weeks after the funeral, much to Gail's surprise. Lily had flung the door open and was standing on the porch, looking mildly annoyed. The first person she could see was James, who had been standing in the middle of the kitchen, eating some buttered toast. Upon seeing her, James effectively missed his mouth and dropped his piece of toast to the floor. He was wearing the clothes he had been sleeping in, nothing more than a pair of red and gold checkered pyjama pants. Lily didn't even look embarrassed to have barged into someone else's house.

Gail snickered at James' morning inability to string words together and pulled herself up from her favourite kitchen chair, "g'mornin' Lily. You caught me on my day off."

Lily was subtly glaring at James, who was attempting to clean the butter off the floor with the corner of his toast. The next words out of her mouth scolded the poor boy, who was already quite embarrassed, "really, Potter, isn't it a little late to be in your sleep wear?"

James skirted out of the kitchen like a dog that had been yelled at, probably to get dressed. Lily finally turned her emerald eyes to Gail and seemed to become quite a bit softer, "do you have to deal with that every morning?"

"Times two- Sirius does it, as well," Gail joked, gesturing at the table before moving to reclaim her seat, "have a seat."

"I was rather hoping we could go out, today," Lily sniffed shortly, eyeing one of the chairs as if it was contagious with some disease, "shopping or something. You could probably use some girl time. Where are the others?"

"Remus had to go back home to help take care of his _sick_ mum. I heard she has recurring dragon pox. Then again, Remus might have been pulling my leg about that," Gail commented offhandedly, "oh- and Sirius is probably still asleep. I think Peter came to visit yesterday- but you probably don't care about that, right?"

"You definitely need some time away from them. You're even starting to talk like Potter," Lily snapped, "come for a little shopping. We could get some ice cream and look into some new Hogwarts robes, before Diagon Alley gets really busy."

"Don't have school lists yet," Gail yawned behind her hand and stood up. She made to grab her shoes.

"Doesn't matter. I know what ingredients I need to restock for Potions, and we'll need robes regardless," Lily explained quietly. The redhead pretended to ignore James' reentry into the kitchen, but was really watching him, unblinkingly, out of the corner of her almond shaped eyes.

"Goin' out?" James asked, returning to his attempts to save whatever he could of his toast.

"Yes, we are. Do you need me to pick anything up?" Gail asked calmly as she fastened the buckle on her brown shoes. Without looking up, she continued, "that doesn't include dungbombs or other joke products."

Lily laughed, causing Gail to look up. James had opened his mouth to respond, and was promptly shut down.

"He was- and then you-" Lily gasped after a bought of merry laughter, "you know him well, Gail!"

"Sure, sure. Come along, Lily," Gail ushered Lily back out through the door and turned back to James, who was waving peacefully, "be good, James. We'll be back in a bit."

Lily was still laughing merrily after they had apparated to the entrance of Diagon Alley. It took her a few good minutes to stop herself and by that time her face was scarlet and she was breathing heavily.

"That was marvelous, Gail," Lily confided, prodding some of the bricks with her wand.

"You really _do_ think James is funny, don't you?" Gail questioned.

"I suppose," Lily answered weakly, leading the way through a crowd of elderly witches. Traces of romantic happiness still on her face, "his humour seems to have improved quite a bit."

"Or you've just warmed up to him?"

"Warmed up?" Lily turned on Gail, wand still in her hand. The redhead wasn't _trying_ to look intimidating, she just was.

"Yes, you always seem a bit harsh to those you're not sure about, and really harsh to those you don't like." Gail stated, watching the shadows grow on Lily's face, "you used to treat me like a parasite, remember?"

"But you were- I mean," Lily spluttered frantically.

"I was an oddball and I never tried to get anyone to like me." Gail finished Lily's sentence, "and you were just unsure about me until- when was it? Oh yeah, Care of Magical Creatures, in our third year."

"You were brilliant at it," Lily remarked sadly, "still are- even if your work sounds like a bit of a dead-end cause."

"What? You mean that "_preserving the life of the creatures, and thus the culture of our ancestors for future generations_" is a dead-end?" Gail joked pausing outside of the Quidditch store to examine the brooms for a second. None that she could pinpoint as 'extraordinary'.

Lily, refusing to comment about the Ministry's work and uninterested in the brooms, took Gail by the arm and hauled her into the apothecary store. It was unpleasant smelling, by all standards, and made Gail quite glad she wasn't taking potions in her final year at Hogwarts.

"It's a shame you didn't pass your potions OWL," Lily remarked, "last year, we made several fantastic brews and..."

The rest of Lily's speech was drowned out by a combination of noises, voices and Gail not wanting to hear anymore. She still thought that Slughorn was a Slytherin-loving git. The redhead continued talking, as if she didn't know that her companion was tuning her out. As they shuffled through the store, Lily would stop to pick at some ingredients. She seemed absolutely enthused when she came across a crate of freshly dried scarabs.

Gail, on the other hand, was busy reading some of the jars. Wormwood, sage, garlic, griffin claw, dragon horn... That last one was rather expensive, and rightly so. It was quite hard to get a good clipping, not to mention dangerous. A person was more likely to end up barbecued as the dragon's dinner if they weren't careful.

There were some large vats in the shop, as well. The putrid brews were rolling happily over little blue fires. Apparently, the store had taken to selling pre-brewed potions, as well as ingredients. Of course, the sign said that the store would not sell the potions to any students, as it would be considered cheating.

"All done," Lily said loudly after paying for her potion ingredients. The two girls made their way out of the muggy store, to Gail's relief. There was no rest for Gail, though, not with Lily wanting to get a set of new robes. Nothing would stop the redhead, not even if Gail dug her heels in.

* * *

James sat at the table, staring around the room with a sigh. He promised to be good, even if he was bored. The house elf, bustled in with an armful of dirty clothes. It looked like Flink was going to wash Gail's clothes today. On top of the pile was a pair of, bloody hell, one of the tawny haired girl's panties. The sight made James turn his head away. Flink didn't even notice. Instead, she cradled the clothes and carried on with her chores.

Shuffling the load into one arm, Flink cleared the dishes out of the sink with a snap of her brown, wrinkly fingers. Another snap caused the sink to fill it up with hot water. Not caring who saw, Flink happily tossed the first few garments into the water and began scrubbing vigourously with a bar of soap. She seemed cheerful to be scrubbing Gail's unmentionables. The thought was almost creepy.

"Mornin'," Sirius grunted, shuffling his feet as he entered the kitchen. Blearily, the dark haired teen turned his eyes to the brown creature. Instantaneously, his jaw dropped and his eyes shot open. Without a word, Sirius sunk into the chair next to James. It took Padfoot a few minutes to find his voice, "bloody hell, washing her underwear in the same sink where we wash our dishes. That's just disgusting."

Flink didn't hear him or even pay attention to the boys who were eyeing Gail's panties.

"Gail does have good taste in unmentionables, though. Cute patterns," Sirius continued after a few seconds. This comment caused Flink to hazard him a glare before furtively shoving the underwear back under the water.

"Nasty little brats," Flink muttered, "not polite at all. Wicked little boys."

Sirius grumbled grouchily. He didn't even bother to respond to the elf. This was likely because Sirius had a bit of a habit of looking down on elves- especially those that reminded him of the nasty creature that served his mother.

"I'm bored," Sirius huffed, digging the nail on his thumb into the corner of the table, effectively chipping small bits of paint off.

"Let's go exploring. Bet there's something interesting around here- not a lot of people around," James responded, leaning forward to examine Sirius. His hazel eyes twinkled with mischief, perfectly mimicking Sirius' dark grey eyes.

"Great idea, let's go. Padfoot needs to stretch his legs out," Sirius agreed amiably. He pushed the chair out behind him carelessly and strolled over to the door.

"See you in a bit, _Flinky_," James tossed a handsome smile at the house elf as he stick his feet in a pair of shoes, "we'll get out of your- er- hair, for a bit."

Before closing the cottage's door, James could have sworn that Flink was muttering about her small tuff of hair. In a most remarkable cute way, the strange little creature was attempting to smooth the strands of white hair against her own wrinkly head. Snickering, James turned to find himself standing in front of a huge, black dog. Padfoot's tail was twitching impatiently, and his eyes were saying "_hurry up, Prongs, I want to run around._"

"Impatient mutt," James joked, folding his arms across his chest, "no wonder Gail didn't stick."

Sirius wasn't happy with that statement. With two barks and a growl, he was displaying his displeasure and his white canines. Padfoot pawed at the ground impatiently. His tail continuously twitched, as if it had a mind of its own. Sirius had admitted that his tail twitched more when he was aggravated. Of course, it only made him look like a good tempered dog. It really wasn't wagging, as most people would think.

"Should make the change permanent," James muttered, knowing that Sirius could hear him, "at least you _look_ friendly like that."

A yelp answered James right away. Sirius continued playing charades with his eyes, "_you wish, Prongs. The only way you could get women to chase after you is with me out of the picture, right mate?_"

James heaved a sigh and couldn't help but agree with Sirius' eyes. He quickly looked around for any stray muggles and, seeing no one, transformed into a stag. It took him a few moments to allow his eyes to adjust to being so far apart. It was like developing an eye problem in a matter of seconds. The light of the sun also seemed to become more powerful, even though he was standing in the shade of the building. Taking in a quick breath, James sniffed at the ground. He could tell where Gail walked frequently, her scent was distributed more strongly in some areas. He was checking for different smells though, smells caused by wild plants, animals and other things. Sirius' nose was more effective for tracking things, but James was better at finding distinct differences. Making his way over the lush ground and around trees, James found the smells becoming more crisp. A fox had passed here earlier, carrying a rabbit for a meal.

Prongs stopped to tap the ground. He noticed that Padfoot was trailing behind him slowly, checking for anything that James might have missed. He caught the fox's scent quickly and jutted around the trees as he followed the scent. Slower than his friend, Prongs checked the surrounding area for other changes. The rock seemed to become harder as they got further away from Gail's cottage. He could feel it through his hooves, all the way into his muscular shoulders and thighs. The area remained sparsely covered in trees and didn't seem like very good farmland. Undoubtedly, the trees had been left because it wouldn't even make a good pasture. James had to be careful where he stepped. One wrong move and he would easily break his leg in several places because of the rocks.

Sirius had it easy. Dogs had far more manoeuvrability than deer, because of their build. Of course, they weren't as _cool _and they didn't have antlers. James caught the smell of another animal. He didn't know exactly what it was, but it was running, or moving quickly. Its prints were moving the the opposite direction of the fox, which Sirius was following. It was easy to get carried away when following other creatures. James allowed himself to become overly cocky and wasn't paying attention to where he was stepping. Prongs didn't realize his error until it was a second too late. As soon as he stepped down with his front legs, he knew something was wrong. The area looked deceivingly mossy.

With his front legs slipping, James jerked himself backwards. Too late. He felt himself falling through what he had thought was moss covered ground. He hadn't been paying enough attention and should have noticed the hidden opening of the hole. All James could do was transfigure himself back into a human form, split seconds after he knew that he couldn't stop the fall. It was a short fall, but that didn't stop the pain when his leg hit the stone ground. His right arm followed his leg, slapping the stone harmlessly.

* * *

**Author Note:**

Crunch.

The dangers of exploring, right? But it's what the boys do.  
This chapter had a lot happening. I hope you caught everything. Leave a review if you have any questions.  
Needless to say, I'm happy about the pantie humor.

-Rue

**Apocolips**: Ah, yeah! I was testing your memory. Thanks. I'm doing my best to make the story interesting. Summer- oh, I wish it was summer.

**XxGrimmy**: Angry and passionate Remus are delicious, right? Totally. Ah, I must have a grey hair fetish, or something. Nothing more attractive, I must say. On young guys, that is. But enough about that- haha. Yeah, the work was so much fun to write. Gail finally had her revenge on the boys. FINALLY. Bwahaha- Nothing better than Sirius shovelling dung. Nothing.


	57. Chapter 57

**Chapter 57**

Pain surged through James' body. It felt as horrible as the time the Death Eater had used the torturing curse on him. Before his mother was...

"Now's not the time to think about that, Potter," James scolded himself while gritting his teeth in pain. It felt like his lungs weren't working properly. Writhing in pain for a moment, James looked up and forced his attention to studying the ceiling for a way out. It was hard for him to see clearly, likely because his head had collided with the rocky ground

Distorted, silver streams of sunlight filtered through the hole he had created by falling through the ceiling of what looked to be an underground cave. An ancient river had worn away at the rocks over time and created the hollow area. This was what allowed the trees to grow in such a rocky area. Roots were entwined with the rocks, giving the ceiling a rather sinister look.

"Prongs?" Sirius' voice reverberated through the cave, and the dark haired boy's head peaked through the hole, blocking the sunlight. Loudly, he called to James, "hold on, I'll be down in a second."

Sure enough, Sirius was down in the crummy hole. Wisely enough, he used his wand to soften his landing. The sight he found was not pretty; James figured so from the look on Sirius' face. Spots of blood were evident around the boy, who was in a crumpled heap. His legs were sprawled out strangely. A bone protruded through James' soft flesh and pants, coating the area in his sticky, warm blood.

James turned his head so that he could examine the worried look on Sirius' face easier. Grunting, James muttered, "just fix my leg, Padfoot."

"Right," Sirius flicked his wand and uttered a spell. Thankfully, the pain in James' leg was gone. The bone had been forced back into place. The area was still tender, but the rest of the pain in James' body seemed to diminish, as well. His arm was broken, but was no where near as painful as his leg. Had been. There was also quite a few places where the roots or the rocks had scratched him on the way down, drawing blood.

"Anywhere else?" Sirius asked darkly, healing some of the larger cuts on James' face.

"Think my arm's broken," James commented dryly, struggling to sit up and remained sitting. He cradled his own arm with a gasp. Unbearable pain shot up his arm.

"Yep, broken. Hold still," Sirius repeated the same spell again, mending the bones that had been shattered on the impact. It took James a moment to realize that his glasses had been flung off, as well. It wasn't head trauma that made his vision go blurry. His poor glasses were shattered quite severely. Luckily, his wand was still intact since he had landed on his other side. James was able to repair his glasses and shove them back onto his face.

"Glad we studied that advanced book on healing magic now, Prongs?" Sirius laughed darkly, turning away to stare down at the faintly trickling, underground river.

"Undoubtedly," James agreed pleasantly. He patted Sirius' back, truly glad to have such a faithful friend.

"Well, we did find an interesting area. Let's look around in here- _Lumos_," James continued taking a few cautious steps. His body still ached a bit, but not as badly as the time he had wrestled Snape away from Moony. The whomping willow really wasn't a good playmate and had been rather disagreeable to James that night. His ribs still throbbed with pain, just by thinking about it. Almost curiously agreeable, Sirius followed him after lighting up his own wand.

They walked on in silence for a while, finding that the small cave was getting thinner the further they went along it. The rocks were becoming more jagged, as well. The whole cave smelt like damp wood and fungus, but at least it was cool, compared to the warmer summer temperatures.

"Wait Prongs," Sirius snapped, out of nowhere, extinguishing his wand and motioning for James to do the same. When James had put out his wand, Sirius pushed him flush against the sharp stone wall. The smell of putrid, unwashed bodies, rotting meat and sour eggs filled the cave. Something big, swooped past the boys. James felt something caress the side of his leg roughly, but only for a moment.

"Trolls," Sirius hissed, "big nasty ones. Look like they're going somewhere. Bet you anything they're joining the Death Eaters. Too stupid not to."

"Let's go," James responded quietly, glaring after the troll, "pick them off one at a time."

Sirius' head bobbed in excitement, causing his long hair to swish, disturbing the air around James' face. He figured Padfoot was agreeing with him. If they could stop a few trolls, they'd be helping James' father and would partially revenge Mrs. Potter.

As quietly as they could, both boys picked their way back along the cave, following the putrid smelling troll. It became easier as they made their way back to the spot where James had fallen through. Sure enough, the stupid troll had stopped to examine the gaping hole in the roof. Its disproportionate, ugly features shone in the silvery, distorted light. There wasn't anything specific about the troll's face that made James feel it was different from any other of its kind. Sirius was on him in an instant, opening up with a stunner. It didn't work so well- trolls and giants were both fairly immune to that spell.

James recalled Moony saying something about the skull of the troll being the weakest part of the troll's body, the rest was covered in layers of muscle and gristle. By the time James had recalled this memory, the troll had swung around and was taking a few dangerous steps towards Sirius.

"Oye, ugly," Sirius taunted, side stepping away from James, "your mother's your father."

The troll groaned loudly, swinging one huge, meaty fist at Sirius. The dark haired teen was too fast, though. Jumping backwards, Sirius landed one foot in the river. Cursing, Sirius hefted a wand against the sniggering troll and effectively knocked the big oaf backwards.

"Hurry up, James," Sirius called, "my foot's getting cold."

"Yeah, yeah," James muttered, picking one of the larger, loose boulders. Non-verbally, he lifted the rock into the air and did his best to stealthily move it over the troll's head. He let it drop. With a sickening crunch, the troll fell to the ground and didn't move again.

"W-we..." James was staring at the creature, "it's dead?"

"Snap out of it. It's just unconscious. Takes more than a little rock to kill a troll," Sirius grunted, moving to check the body. When he was sure that the troll was out cold, he effectively tied the body up with conjured ropes. A small puddle of troll blood appeared under the creature's head, but not enough that the creature would bleed to death.

"It wouldn't stop with killing _you_, mate. It would go after others, adults, kids- babies, even. They're only sentient enough to know their three basic needs- food, shelter, sex. Why do you think it's classified as a beast?" Sirius joked darkly, even though he knew James wouldn't find it funny at all.

James did his best to laugh, somewhat weakly, at his friend's joke, even though his stomach churned. He really didn't have it in him to kill the creature.

"Think there are others?" James asked, refusing to look at the troll as he stared into the sheer darkness.

"Undoubtedly. They've probably joined a 'troll union' in order to have some power against their dark masters, even if they don't like one another very much," Sirius concluded, starting back toward the way they had come from. Today, they were walking around quite a bit, but James didn't complain. It was better than sulking around the house.

* * *

Wizard ice cream was really delicious. Well, Gail would say that any ice cream was delicious, but the stuff sold at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour was far more delicious than any muggle ice cream. The shop owner brought Lily and Gail a cone each. Lily had strawberry flavoured ice cream and seemed to be enjoying it. Personally, Gail preferred vanilla. It was smooth, like velvet and melted in Gail's mouth.

Gail suspected that Florean added something into the ice cream to bring out the flavours better- like almond extract or some kind of potion.

"So Petunia had a fit when she woke up. I've never seen her so mad before- she was cursing Potter's name and everything." Lily had a victory laugh in between stalking and eating her ice cream cone. Her face was bright with cheerfulness at the idea of her sister getting a stronger taste of _Hogwarts medicine_.

"Mmm, at least she woke up. It was a silly thing to faint over, anyway," Gail commented, attacking her own ice cream cone.

"I guess..." Lily's eyes shifted away nervously. It looked like she really didn't want to condone anything James had done, even if she thought her sister's reaction was totally hilarious. The redhead failed to notice the pack of dark cloaked wizards that walked by them. Gail thought she saw a beak-like nose for a second. That made her think of something important. Lily's ice cream dripped down her fingers, causing her to snap back to reality. Grabbing a napkin, Lily wiped the melted ice cream off her fingers.

"So, you haven't talked to Snape in a while, have you?" Gail asked after she finished eating the rest of her cone. Lily shook her head.

"No, I haven't talked to _him_ in a while. Honestly, his insecurities- You should have seen him every time I said Potter was an egotistical toe-rag. He'd fly to the moon. If I didn't, he would sulk. Forget it if I didn't even want to talk about Potter." Lily complained, running a pale hand through her brilliant red hair before she continued, "but I never thought- never dreamed he would insult me because of his bruised ego."

"Mmm- he was a git, sure, but I always thought he had more brains in that head of his. He was always curt. Polite, if not kind." Gail agreed, staring down the road to make sure Snape really had gone. It looked like he'd turned into Knockturn Alley with the others.

Lily sighed quietly, shovelling the rest of her cone into her mouth. For a moment, she looked rather like a chipmunk with her cheeks bulging with food. Gail couldn't help but laugh rudely, earning herself a slap on the arm. When Lily had swallowed, she stood up and grabbed her two bags. One was full of potion ingredients. The other was stuffed and quite wrinkly because of the heavy fabrics of Lily's new robes. They had decided to purchase two different pairs of robes, normal school ones and some dress robes to be used on graduation. Gail had chosen simple, black dress robes that were reminiscent of muggle dresses from the 1960s.

Lily, on the other hand, chose a rather outrageous dress. It had shoulder pads, beads, lace, bows... And to top it off, it was emerald green and shinny. Gail made a face while thinking of the green dress robes. Lily, seeing where Gail looked, made a loud "tsk" noise.

"It looks good on me _and_ it's fashion forward, Gail," Lily snapped angrily, squeezing both bags together as if to protect her dress robes.

Gail couldn't help but stare skeptically at Lily. She didn't say a word, which caused Lily to fume. A raging mad Lily was not easy to deal with. Gail rather wished James was around to divert some of that tense anger.

"Ah, that reminds me. I should get registered sometime soon," Gail scratched her neck peacefully before plucking up her own bag and following after the redhead, "we should go to the Ministry for a bit, okay?"

"Registered for what?" Lily asked suspiciously with one of her delicate eyebrows raised as she stared over her shoulder at Gail.

"Mmm- Nothing much. Just come with me, okay? I'll see if they'll let me get registered quickly and then we can go back to my cottage for afternoon tea."

Lily thought about it for a moment for grudgingly agreeing. It was lucky that both girls had learned to apparate, it was way faster to get to the ministry. Gail had only ever been to the ministry a few times to fill out forms and other paperwork for the fifth nursery. She wasn't completely sure where she had to go, but she had a good idea. There were many wizards bustling about the ministry building when they actually arrived. Lily stood by the Ministry's directory, trying to read which level they would have to go to after visiting the guard at the security desk.

"Fourth?" Lily asked quietly, pointing at the bold letters that read _Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures_.

"Not today. We need to go to Level Two," Gail corrected Lily quickly. "Hello Miss Barnes. This is Lily Evans, a visitor."

"Where are you two headed?" The little security witch asked, eyeing Lily up.

"Second Level, department of magical law enforcement, improper use of magic office," Gail said briskly. Her eyes drifted from the security witches' face to her badge that read her name, Mabel Barnes, and back to her face. The witch didn't even bother to register Gail and Lily's wands.

"Ah, work of the fifth nursery, again? Of course, you're here to register, just like the other three workers at that nursery. So few people, these days, actually bother to learn that- ah, but you'll find out soon enough. Here are your buttons."

Lily pinned her badge to the front of her robes, mimicking Gail. Oblivious to the questioning gaze of her friend, Gail lead the way to a lift. The lift went down, stopping at each floor until they reached the second floor, where two two women got off.

"It's always odd arriving on the eighth floor," Gail commented cheerfully as they walked passed the Auror's office. This office seemed to catch Lily's attention, drawing her green eyes like a moth into a bright light. When they were away from the Auror office, Lily returned her questioning gaze to Gail. Eventually, Gail stopped in front of the "Improper Use of Magic" office. She pulled the door open and stepped in. It was bright and squeaky clean, almost strangely so considering the shape of the rest of the building.

"Can I help you, dear?" Asked the blonde witch at the desk closest to the door. She could read Gail's name badge, but still insisted on calling her dear. This fact annoyed Gail.

"I'm here to register as an animagus," Gail smiled brittlely at the reception witch, "is there someone here that can test me after I fill in the forms?"

The blonde witch sprung into action, pulling out forms and other papers with lightning speed. It was strange that her head remained stationary. She was talking as if her hands weren't moving quickly, "yes, yes. Someone will be able to test you by the time you've filled all of these papers in. Are you sure that you can fully become an animal? We won't bother testing you unless you're close to becoming a full animal. Half-shifting doesn't require any-..."

"Quite sure, thanks," Gail took the papers and no-ink quill from the witch, and moved to the seating area. Carefully, Gail sat herself down and carefully began filling in the stack of papers.

"An animagus, Gail?" Lily whispered, "when did you- how'd you-?"

"I'll explain later. First name: A-b-i-g-ail..." Gail scratched away at the form. She was doing her best to ignore Lily, who was practically leaning over her shoulder to read what Gail had written.

"Animal, nightingale, bird. Colouring, tawny. Markings, white ring around eyes... So you really can do it, can't you?" Lily asked quietly, not expecting a response, "I'm impressed, Gail. Do you know how rare bird animagi are? You didn't even need to learn apparition."

"Sure," Gail muttered, frowning at some of the questions. Why did the forms have to include every piece of information that could be listed. Why did she have to sign more than once? It was ridiculous.

"You missed that one, you have to check off that you're female," Lily commented pointing near the top of the first form.

Grumbling, Gail ticked off that she was female, like any wizard or witch would be able to tell that she was a female in her animagus form. The rest of the pages, after the form that Gail filled in, were pieces of information regarding the regulations surrounding animagi, as well as reasons why "the average witch/wizard should get registered once they're able to transfigure themselves into an animal." Gail had to laugh at much of this, since it didn't even apply to her situation.

There were many places for Gail to sign, acknowledging that she read and understood the agreement and registration process. It was a bunch of legal trash, most of which didn't apply to Gail, who wasn't . Honestly, who would use their animagus to torment muggles and other wizards and witches? There were thousands of spells that would do the trick more effectively.

It took her nearly twenty five minutes to finish reading the stack of papers, signing from time to time. When she was done, she handed the papers to the blonde witch, who pointed at an open door, explaining that so-and-so was available to test her animagus, and could Gail take this-or-that to so-and-so?

Gail knocked on the open door and stared into the darkened office. A fat, balding wizard sat behind the desk with a fake, jovial smile on his face. Entering, she closed the door behind her. Shuffling to the desk, she sulkily handed him a piece of paper that had a copy of her information on it.

"Oh, I see! A young animagus, are you? My name is Bartleby Beans, as Mindy has probably said. And your name is- Abigail Forester. Interesting. How old are you, Abigail?" The man continued to smile at her, not even breaking the smile when he was reading her information.

"Seventeen, sir," Gail answered truthfully, taking a seat across from the man that would be examining her animagus.

"You haven't even graduated from school yet, have you?" The man's smile wavered for a second, "well, let me see it, Abigail. I will judge whether or not you should be registered at this point in time."

Gail sighed and easily transfigured into a bird. With a hop, she landed on his desk. Greedily, the man's eyes roved over her, his smile didn't move at all. Nodding, he pulled out his wand and left a stamp-like mark on the parchment.

"Wonderful, Abigail," Bartleby Beans commented, unaware of how dangerous he seemed to Gail at that moment. "You will be listed among the other animagi- the seventh registered in this century, a new record. Congratulations. Now, might I ask where you learned to-"

Gail jumped back over to the chair and transfigured back, ignoring the rest of the man's questions. She thanked the man and agreed to take the form back to the reception witch. As briskly as Gail could, she left the office with Lily trailing behind her. Gail didn't talk until they reached the lift again.

"Why are we walking? Let's just apparate," Gail suggested. Without another word, Gail apparated straight back to her small cottage. Lily appeared next to her, and opened her mouth to ask.

"Come inside and I'll explain," Gail muttered. She lead the way up the stairs and inside the house, only to be greeted by a rather upset-looking Flink.

"They're not back, Miss Gail! They're not back!"

* * *

**Author Note:**

Troll hunting season! That's fun, right? Of course, the boys won easily.

For now.

Yes, Gail just became a registered animagi. You thought she would be illegal, didn't you? Mr. Beans sure is a creep though. Highly suspicious- mmmm... Yes. And he works with Dolores Umbridge. Boo! Hiss.

-Rue

* * *

**Apocolips**: It totally was Friday the 13th! Tsk, and I didn't even realize it. James' luck really was bad, though. Nothing that some magic can't fix!

**XxGrimmy**: Yes, it was sad- but it was also closure for James, who found some inner strength during such a time. Oh, you mean James missing his mouth with the toast? Yes, unbelievably cute. It's a tarp! A TARP! Run James! RUN! Oh wait, it's not...

Evil cliff hangers, yes, but I will string my readers along until I get more reviews.


	58. Chapter 58

**Chapter 58**

"What do you mean, Flink?" Gail asked curiously, "James and Sirius went out? Well, I suppose they're keeping out of trouble."

"They went exploring hours ago," Flink sobbed, throwing herself onto the entrance mat, "Flink shouldn't have let them go! Those naughty brats..."

"Hours ago? I wonder if they got lost," Gail scratched her chin. Somehow, she doubted the idea that the boys would actually get lost, they were too smart for that. Undoubtedly, the two of them were up to their noses in something troublesome and possibly dangerous. Gail didn't voice this, though. James and Lily were just starting to get along and their relationship was on the edge of civility.

"It's fine. If they're not back in a while, I'll take Switch out and find them," Gail explained to Flink, dropping a hand softly onto the elf's wrinkly, sandpaper head, "how about some tea, Flink?"

"Right away, Miss Gail!" Flink squeaking, throwing herself back into work. Gail nodded in satisfaction, knowing that the elf wouldn't have time to sulk if she was kept busy.

"I'll send a note to Remus if they're not back in a bit. They might have gone to his house," Gail continued, speaking to herself more than to Lily. Within seconds, Flink had served tea and the two girls were sitting by the table. Gail explained that she had been studying to become an animagus for a while. She kept the boys out of the story, though. She didn't want to get them in trouble.

"Show me?" Lily asked, leaning forward in her chair. Her red hair slid across her shoulders.

"Alright," Gail smiled softly at Lily's curiosity. Without hesitation, she transfigured herself into a bird. Lily's chorus of coos greeted her.

"Oh, how sweet, Gail." Lily exclaimed, running her pointer finger along Gail's head. The redhead spent a few minutes examining every part of Gail, from talons to beak, as if she was the most rare kind of bird. "Wow, Gail. I'm really impressed. You're become really good at Transfiguration, aren't you?"

Gail inclined her head and chirped happily. Before she could turn herself back into a human, the door swung open. Staggering through the threshold were the two boys. They looked like they had been through the ringer a few times. One of Sirius' shoes was discoloured, and looked quite damp. He looked like exhausted, but was still in better shape than James. The second boy was covered in bruises and his clothes had many tears and rips.

Lily stared at the boys with her mouth open. Gail was faster to descend on them, turning back into a human in order to help both boys into the house. When they were both sitting down, Gail opened her mouth to pump the details out of them.

"Don't ask," Sirius snapped, running his fingers over his eyes.

Gail ignored him, "what happened, James? Who beat you up?"

"No one," James grunted. The tips of his ears were bright red. He must have been embarrassed to find Lily in such a place when he was obviously out of it.

"Potter, if you've been doing something illegal..."

"We weren't." James confirmed, shooting a weary look at Lily, "we just stopped a few trolls."

"Trolls?" Gail gasped, beating Lily to the punch, "as in, more than one? Are you two okay?"

"Just tired," Sirius confirmed, "and hungry. We'll finish the rest of the trolls off tomorrow, now that we know where they are. The Death Eaters must be gathering them to attack a muggle town, or something."

"What did you do with them?" It was Lily's turn to ask a question this time. She jumped right into the conversation, not feeling that she was the odd one out. She wasn't even afraid of the pure blood supremacists that were using the trolls to achieve their goal of wiping out muggles and muggleborns.

"Tied them up and made sure that they couldn't get away," James grinned ferociously at his superficial victory. For once, his hand didn't fly towards his hair.

"I will come with you tomorrow," Lily decided without hesitation, "it'll be safer for you two-..."

"No way," Sirius vetoed that idea. Maybe it was his ego getting in the way, or maybe he didn't want Lily to get hurt.

"I agree with Lily. At least let her follow you, in case you get hurt or something," Gail leaned towards Sirius, noticing him freeze up, "I would hate to send a note to Remus telling him that his two best mates got killed while trying to catch some trolls, when I should be sending him love notes."

Sirius opened his mouth to talk, but James beat him to it, "it's not like that, Gail. The more people that go with us, the more likely it is that we'll be spotted."

"I can keep myself out of trouble, Potter," Lily fumed, her hostile nature rising. For a moment, it looked like Lily would hex the two boys to get her point across. Instead, Lily turned to Gail with a pleading look in her eyes.

"James, take her with you," Gail gave James a knowing look. "Show her your _heroic_ side and take care of her. If worse comes to worst, she will be able to help you out of a nasty situation."

Sirius sighed grumpily, knowing that James couldn't say no to showing off for Lily. By extension, he couldn't say no to James. Therefore, in the most grudging way possible, Sirius agreed to let Lily come along. He refused to make eye contact with either girl, though, and continued to sulk for a while. Gail could have sworn he heard him mutter something about a "Lily-Goodshoes" or something equally rude.

"When's dinner?" James asked cheerfully, ignoring his friend's pout.

"We just had tea, Potter, you can't expect-..."

"Dinner is ready!" Flink squeaked. The cheerful elf drifted over to them. Snapping her brown fingers, the tea cups and trays were replaced with platters of food. Delicious smelling food wafted through the air. A flurry of utensils and food fled across the table. Both boys ate carnivorously. Lily was far more mature and ate delicately.

"Oh, I've missed eating such good food," Lily exclaimed jubilantly as she turned to Gail, her plate was almost completely clean.

"Ah," James groaned in agreement, leaning back into his chair with a hand on his stomach, "full."

Sirius, still quite sulky, didn't say a word. Silently, the dark haired boy left the table and stormed into the boys' room. The door slammed behind him. No one spoke until James decided to make a go at conversation.

"Bet he's a bit mad."

"I bet he wanted Gail to go instead of me," Lily chided wistfully. Her emerald eyes burned holes into the door for moment before trailing back to James.

"Don't kid- that's not funny," James retorted, his own eyes glowing with warm humour, "we don't want Moony and Padfoot to have another row."

Gail snorted rudely, interrupting their little flirting session, "you know I always win their rows. They don't even have a chance."

Both James and Lily laughed brilliantly at her response. Gail wasn't really kidding, though. The number of times that she'd mediated between the two boys was strange, even to her. They had vastly different personalities, and it was a real wonder that either boy was able to put up with the other for long periods of time. Gail suspected that the boys were able to moderate Sirius, in turns, when he was being an overly egotistical prat.

Lily caught herself before James could and found her composure. Somehow, she became slightly aggravated. It was evident when she spoke, "Gail, I need to use the loo."

"Oh, sure. The door is in my bedroom. You can't miss it... Just don't try sneaking out through the window," Gail joked, laughing as Lily's brows furrowed in confusion.

* * *

"I should probably go check on him," James muttered, hesitantly getting up and wandering towards the door, all the while staring after Lily like he expected her to come running back.

"Don't mind me, James. Go deal with that kid," Gail commanded him quite loudly, "I'll see if I can't get Flink to get us some drinks."

The idea of Lily drunk seemed nice- but James put it out of his head as he entered the room. He found Sirius seemed to be in a bad mood, blissfully unaware of the two, perfectly decent girls in the other room. Sometimes, the moody teen was rather irrational.

"Padfoot?" James inquired. Sirius jumped a bit and turned around. He seemed to have his wand in one hand and his penknife in the other. He looked quite bashful for a moment, before grinning.

"What are you doing?" James asked him quietly, so that Gail and Lily wouldn't be able to hear them, even if they stood right at the door.

"Oh, just playing a trick," Sirius quipped, pushing the knife back into his pocket.

"Better be harmless, mate. Dad might boil you alive if he thinks you've been ungracious to our _hostess_," James warned his friend. Mr. Potter had become more on-edge lately, as James had seen through his letters. The notes James got from his father were usually unsigned and contained very little real information about the Death Eaters.

"Don't worry, it's not for Gail," Sirius confirmed James' worst fear. Pranking Lily would have a bad effect if she was going to be with them while they were fighting trolls. Her temper was bloody horrific. Even Gail was afraid of the redhead when she was angry. James was truly grateful to be alive, even after years of provoking Lily's temper.

"Mate, if you're thinking about pranking Evans..." James voice trailed off, noticing the mischeivious smirk on Sirius' face. His stomach dropped.

"Harmless," Sirius grinned, "but enough about that. I've got a bottle of firewhisky- think we should share it with the girls? I heard Gail mention drinks..."

James thought about it for a minute. They would be doing something pretty dangerous tomorrow, and they might not get another chance to drink the stuff.

"Might as well," James grinned, "what day is it?"

"It's a good day to get a calendar," Sirius retorted, before digging through his school things. Surprisingly enough, he had kept most of his possessions in his trunk, unlike James. Casually, Sirius brought out a bottle of golden liquid and five small glasses.

"Five?" James asked curiously.

"Moony's due back tonight, 'member? Bet he's a bit stiff, though." Sirius grumbled, leading the way back into the kitchen. James found, to his delight, Lily sitting at the table across from Gail. The girls seemed to be having an important discussion and stopped talking when they entered the room.

"So Sirius didn't get lost in James' mess," Gail commented cheekily. She seemed absolutely enthused, probably because Remus would be back in a bit- unless she didn't know.

"Drinking?" Lily made shot a cold look at Sirius before turning back to Gail, "I don't understand how you can live with these two- it must be strenuous."

"No worse than living with them at Hogwarts, really," Gail joked, "at least I get to escape to work, right?"

Sirius placed the bottle and cups on the table and proceeded to loom around the girls. James had enough sense to settle himself as far from the three of them as he could get and keep his hands visible, and wand-free, on the table. Sirius smiled complacently enough, just long enough to put the two girls off guard. With a swoop of well-trained hand, the dark teen had his revenge.

Lily gasped, stood up and rushed out of the room. She didn't even turn to give Sirius her normal, cursory glare. She had effectively fled into Gail's room and slammed the door shut behind her. Gail looked stunned, wondering what had just happened. It was either Lily's reaction or Gail's stunned face that made Sirius roar with laughter. James forced his mouth into a straight line, even though he was struggling. Before anyone could say a word, Lily stormed back in. Her face was quite red and she was positively shaking with rage.

"WHAT DID YOU DO, BLACK?"

That only caused Sirius to laugh louder, something that should have been impossible. He didn't seem to understand just how close he was standing to the edge of his own destruction. Gail was up immediately, trying to mediate between Lily and Sirius, but she might as well have been fodder for the fire.

"JUST SIT DOWN, GAIL," Lily roared. Her nostrils flared and she grabbed the back of Sirius' shirt. With inhuman strength granted from her anger, the redhead pulled Sirius along behind her and practically tossed him outside. Gail, teetering between going to help Sirius and trying to calm Lily down, looked quite puzzled.

There was a flash of light and Lily came back inside. She looked quite smug with herself, almost pleased.

"I think I'll have some of this," Lily remarked calmly, pouring herself a shot of Sirius' liquid. It didn't take a genius to understand that her face was not red from anger. She had been embarrassed, but James didn't really understand why.

"What happened?" Gail asked, wavering slightly. She looked towards the liquid.

Lily, after sniffing the drink, looked at Gail and frowned, "he detached my you-know-what."

"Your bra?" The tawny haired girl asked, earning herself a glare.

"I'm not sure how he did it, but I know it was him. Potter was sitting too far away." Lily turned her glare to James, who had started perspiring a bit. His thoughts were with Sirius. What had she done to Sirius? What would she do to James if he went to help him?

"I was wondering what he needed his penknife for... I think I'm going to have a drink too. Gail?"

"Why not? Sure."

James whisked the bottle and stack of glasses over to himself and poured one for Gail and himself. Briefly, he wondered if Gail and Lily ever drank. Well, it was highly unlikely that Lily had ever downed the fiery liquid before, judging by how hesitant she was to drink it. Knowing Padfoot, though, he had probably forced some hooch on Gail during their first date. Eventually, Lily tested the drink a bit, but pushed it aside with a disgusted look.

"Bottoms up," Gail's voice chimed. She gulped the glass down in one go and then looked quite sick. "Ugh. That stuff... Burns."

James matched Gail, swinging the stuff back. With a look of triumph, James looked over at his new drinking friend, "it's a good burn, though. Another?"

Gail hesitated. Her nose wrinkled for a moment.

"Too chicken?" James echoed quietly, a provoking look in his eyes.

"You're on," Gail snapped, moving her glass forward for James to fill.

"You two!" Lily flung her hands up in aggravation, "I'll be the other room, reading, if you need anything."

James wasn't perturbed when Lily left in a huff. He was too busy winning the drinking game. Gail didn't seem like the sort to hold her alcohol very well...

* * *

Boy, was he wrong. By his third glass, he was starting to feel very light headed and Gail seemed to be holding up quite well. He was just about to pour a fourth glass when the door slid open. Sirius and Remus stumbled in. Everything was a little bit soft around the edges, but James could tell that both boys looked like they'd been through the ringer.

Sirius almost hissed when he saw that James had demolished a good portion of his new bottle of firewhisky- instead of saving him. Sirius grabbed Lily's abandoned glass and drank the remainder of the liquid from the glass before pouring himself another. He didn't say a word about how James had been right, it wasn't a good idea to play a trick the redhead. He didn't say a word about what Lily had done to him.

"Darling!" Gail gasped, practically falling over herself to make it over to Remus, "you're back!"

Without hesitation Gail wrapped her arms around Remus and snuggled into his chest. She certainly was showing signs of lowered inhibitions.

"Erm- yeah, I'm back. Peter dropped by my house last night. He sends his best, but didn't want to come with me tonight," Remus replied hoarsely, turning his pale, tired face to James, "you got her drunk, Prongs?"

"I was winning," James pouted, "before you got here. Padfoot?"

"What?" Sirius snapped, giving James a rather annoyed look.

"Do I win if she forfeits?" James asked curiously, leaning against Sirius and breathing alcohol-breath all over him.

"Yeah, sure. Now gerroff," Sirius pushed James slightly. A wave of motion sickness claimed James for a moment and his brain twitched in his head.

"Grumpy," James slurred slightly, "Gail, do you forfeit?"

"No, I win Remus- right, my darling?" Gail beamed, leaning up to give Remus a prolonged kiss. James didn't doubt that it tasted unpleasantly like the whisky. Remus, who looked tired before the kiss, looked positively queasy afterwards.

"I don't think you should drink anymore tonight, Gail," Remus stated, determined not to look James or Sirius in the eyes.

* * *

**Author Note:**

Late! I'm so sorry. I'm having such a busy week. It hurts me to deliver some bad news to you guys. I won't be able to update for a few weeks. I have final exams during the second week of December, and I'm behind in a few classes. I promise I'll make it up to you guys. After my exams in December, I'll be updating daily again. Hopefully, I'll be able to finish this story by the time the next semester starts. Exciting prospect, right? I know. Then I'll be able to start the sequel.

Three weeks. I might die, guys. Wish me luck!

-Rue

* * *

**Apocolips**: Thanks! I get sad when I don't get to write about Remus, too. Don't worry, he showed up, even if this chapter was a little silly towards the end.

**Tiner**: Thank you for reviewing and complimenting me. -blush- I'm really glad you're enjoying it!

**DitsyMuch**: Thank you for the review! I will try to update regularly again after my exams.


	59. Chapter 59

**Chapter 59**

"Bloody hell," Sirius cursed in a huff after successfully stubbing his toe for the fifth time that day. He had been rather unbalanced, even after whatever Lily had done to him wore off. The dim light of his wand did little to help Sirius walk steadily. Because of this, his temperament spiked dangerously and caused both Lily and James to ignore his obnoxious behaviour. They walked along in silence while listening to the groans of the cave.

Lily snorted in laughter, quiet as a breath. Sirius swung his head around dangerously and glared at her, but no one said anything. There was an understanding that the yelling and the fighting would be done later, when the three of them were safe.

"Wish Moony was here instead," Sirius grumbled to himself, returning his sharp grey eyes back to the front, so that he wouldn't trip or stub his toes again.

"Too bad," Lily snapped. James could only imagine the glare she was giving his mate. He was too scared to look. Lily's voice continued to trail down the cave, "he went with Gail because she's more important to him than you two."

Sirius swung around and almost kicked the bucket. Luckily for him, James leapt forward and steadied the unbalanced youth, causing a bit more aggravation than moments before. Glaring at both of them, Sirius breathed through his nose heavily and spoke in a dangerous tone, "Moony does not value _her_ above us."

James held up a hand before hissing, "quiet, both of you. We're getting too close to them; they'll hear us."

Several loud grunts echoed through the dim tunnel, alerting the three teens. The stone floor seemed to quiver under their feet, as if something truly frightening was approaching. James wish he wasn't correct in assuming that something would hear them. That something was approaching quickly, and it didn't sound very friendly. Three trolls appeared and their stench was almost enough to knock James off his feet.

"_Impedimenta_!" Lily was the first to hit a troll with a spell. It successfully hit the first brute in the stomach, ensuring that the other two trolls would have a tough time trying to get by their ugly friend. They three teens didn't have time to bask in this small victory, though. There was no telling how long the spell would last on the resilient troll, or if there weren't more trolls coming down the long cavernous hallway.

James' heart was beating fast, almost unnaturally so. It didn't help that Lily was there. Somehow, if felt like his brain had gone on a temporary vacation without him. His managed a few spells though. Landing a good disarming spells on one troll, he managed to fling the stupid creature backwards and remove the stalagmite front its mitts.

The last troll had its feet encased in what looked like blocks of ice. It was crying because of the pain and the fact that it couldn't take a few steps without slipping and tripping. Lily also hit it with a spell, but James couldn't tell what it was. The smelly creature finally tumbled over its companion that James had fouled and hit its head on the stone wall. Sirius was laughing at the creature's misfortune but James didn't have time to join in. The biggest of the three trolls was starting to break free of the spell Lily had placed on it. In anger because of the damage done to its companions, the troll roared.

"Ugh! Someone needs a breath mint," Sirius taunted, flicking his wand gracefully. The troll roared and took a few steps towards the dark haired teen. Lily gasped, and tried to immobilize the troll again, but her spell went right over the creature's left shoulder. The stupid thing laughed at Lily. That was one thing James couldn't stand.

"_Confundo_," James bellowed, striking the troll directly in the face. The sneer was wiped off and replaced with a peacefully mindless look. It turned on its heel and headed into the stream. Without a warning, it plopped itself into the gentle steam and started splashing itself with water.

"Do you 'spose he's takin' a bath?" Sirius asked, staring at the troll with a perplexed look on his face. The boys joined together in laughter this time and to James' surprise, Lily joined as well.

James, still quite tense after the fight, wasn't about to take a chance on the trolls. He quickly used his wand to tie and move the three trolls. With them out of the way, Sirius was able to continue leading the other two down the cavernous hallway. They seemed to walk for hours with no sign of any other trolls. Lily finally stopped walking.

"What is it?" Sirius asked, more politely than he would have hours ago.

"It's getting late, we should leave," Lily admonished. Sirius seemed to ponder her words politely before agreeing. It had been several hours since their last meal, and the chap was likely to be hungry. As if on queue, Sirius' stomach let loose an unearthly growl.

"It doesn't look like we'll find anymore trolls today, either. It'd be best if we leave before it gets dark outside," James agreed, watching Sirius nod gratefully.

* * *

Summer break was nearing a close. The days were beginning to get colder and Gail was almost feeling resentful at the idea of going back when there was more work than ever at the nursery. A string of off-season births had effectively caused a few problems with Gail's work. She really didn't want to leave things as they were, but there were so few workdays left before she would be riding the Hogwarts Express back, for the last time.

She could at least enjoy her last weekend sharing a house with the boys. She successfully pestered Flink into allowing her to cook breakfast one fine morning. Luckily, she was able to make a plate full of pancakes and scrambled eggs for her house guests. All the while, Flink watched her suspiciously, as if the tawny haired woman would burn the whole house down. For a while, Flink had been in a bad mood for a while: Gail assumed this was because school would be resuming soon. Before she could serve the food, though, four lovely owls dropped onto the kitchen table.

"Oh, letters," James yawned hugely, watching the owls drop the notes before taking off. There were marks on his face from his pillow. It was evident that he had just awakened. "Wonder which books we'll be using this year. I heard Minnie placed in an order for the new version of "Transfiguration for the Experienced." Maybe that one will have a few spells we don't know."

"You really should call Professor McGonagall that, James," laughed Gail. "You know she'd seethe at that."

"Big deal. I've heard Dumbledore call her that before. What does it matter? She doesn't have ears everywhere, and she's the head of _our_ house." James responded adamantly. He quickly plucked up all of the letters off the table to make room for the food. His hazel eyes showed surprise after a second, though. The thickest of the letters remained in his hands after he placed the others onto the kitchen counter. Without warning, he ripped the letter open and pulled out a stack of paper.

"Blimey," James cursed under his breath. "I never thought... Wait until Dad hears! He'll buy me the new cleansweep for sure! Gail, can I borrow your owl?"

"Go ahead. Fright got home from Lily's last night." Gail assumed that James had made Quidditch captain. She was quite surprised when she found a badge marked "H" on the floor. James had definitely dropped it when he was pulling out papers. James Potter, the troublemaker, was the head boy of their year. Such a thing would have horrified Gail, had she not been witness to the changes in the messy haired youth over the summer.

"Good morning, Vega," Remus greeted her with a kiss. Apparently, James had taken it on himself to wake the other two as he went through the cottage. Sirius, even after acquiring a bit of money from his uncle or something, was mostly concerned with seeing that James and Remus weren't left alone with Gail. He walked behind Remus, looking quite annoyed. "James made head boy, but I guess you heard."

Remus' eyes dropped to the badge in Gail's hand. She faintly smiled and gestured at the table, "grab some breakfast. I suppose we'll have to go shopping for supplies this weekend. When are you two free? I don't fancy going alone..."

"This afternoon would be good. Haven't got anything else to do." Remus spoke calmly, taking a seat at the table and helping himself to some of the food. Sirius plopped himself down, as well, and grunted in agreement with his friend.

"Nothing planned for this afternoon. I want some ice cream," Sirius spoke casually, watching Gail out of the corner of his eye. He had become slightly more threatening over the last few weeks. Perhaps he was becoming more aggravated, due to the fact that James and Lily were now on speaking terms.

"Sure. We'll stop and grab some ice cream when we're done. Do you think we should send a note to Peter to see if he would like to come, as well?" Gail asked, gingerly placing herself into a chair next to Sirius. Her legs were quite sore after having to run around the nursery the previous day, tending to three different groups of newborns.

"His family is visiting relatives in- where was it again?"

"France," Remus supplied around a mouthful of toast.

"Right, right. It's not like he'll come running back just to go shopping with us. Bet he found a nice girl over there, or something," Sirius commented dryly. As soon as James came back into the room, Sirius lost his focus and followed James with his eyes.

"There's no way Dad won't buy me a new broom!" James grinned broadly at his three friends. His smile was returned to varying degrees.

"Er, congratulations, I guess," Gail's faint smile quivered. "But I think you'll need this badge in order to convince your father."

James seemed confused for a moment, until Gail slid the badge across the table. The H gleamed in the light of the kitchen for a moment, before the silver token was snatched up by James.

"You dropped it in the kitchen," Gail explained peacefully. Ignoring the questioning look on James' face. It was almost as if he had assumed that Gail nicked it when he wasn't looking. "James, do you want to come shopping with us tomorrow? We're planning on stopping for ice cream."

"Excellent. I'm game," James agreed happily. "Ice cream on you?"

She couldn't help but sigh heavily. It would be nice to be able to spend some time alone in the girl's dorms - without the boys to pester her as if they were her younger brothers. Being with Remus was lovely and all, but with the other two around, life seemed to stand still. Sometimes, James and Sirius seemed to regress back to childhood. She wasn't even able to give Remus a proper kiss without the two prats whooping and carrying on as if they'd never seen anyone kiss before. Indeed, it would be nice to find a bit of privacy.

* * *

Gail leaned forward suggestively. Hopefully Remus would catch her meaning before any of the others. He ignored her, purposefully averting his eyes with a casual grace about himself. This only served to excite the boys more. Fox whistles erupted from both Sirius and James. Both boys were ignored.

"So why are you sitting here?" Sirius finally asked what had been on his mind for a while. "Not keeping Evans and the others company?"

Gail ignored the potentially hurtful tone the boy was taking. She was used to his snide remarks. It was unfortunate that he was mostly right. Gail really hadn't wanted to sit with them. With a grimace plastered on her face, she turned to Sirius and spoke, "someone discovered the wonder of perfume over the summer. Not Lily."

James sighed in relief. Apparently, he didn't enjoy perfume very much. He probably wouldn't enjoy sitting with Lily today, not with the stench that Jo was sporting.

The door to the marauders' compartment slid open quietly. Avalon appeared, looking positively frazzled. "There you are, Gail! Good move. Honestly, don't know why she has to pollute our air like that. Mind if I sit?"

Before anyone could answer, the blonde sat down between Peter and Sirius. There was a moment when Sirius looked like he was going to balk, but he didn't. In fact, he gave Avalon a rather charming smile.

"In a few minutes, you'll have to head to the other cabin, Potter. So you can get the head boy initiation over with," Avalon spoke curtly before falling silent. The boys gave her withering looks for spoiling their good time.

"Don't wanna," James grumbled. "Who knows who's the head girl? Could be a Slytherin."

"Haha~" Gail laughed shortly, hardly suppressing her sarcastic thoughts. "You know it's a Griffindor. Dumbledore wouldn't leave a troublemaker like you to just anyone, right?"

Avalon smiled peacefully, sharing in Gail's private joke. The others looked quite baffled.

"Wouldn't it be horrible if E-Evans was head girl?" Peter squeaked, snickering at his own joke.

"Hmm..." James thought about it for a minute, but promptly pushed the idea away. Avalon grinned widely, catching and holding Gail's stare. They both knew that Lily was the head girl. Of course Dumbledore would know enough to stick James with someone that could go head-to-head with him. Perhaps it was the old man's idea of matchmaking.

Eventually, James got up to leave his mates. He bid each one farewell, as if he would never see them again. After a few fake, corny sobs, James left. Surprisingly enough, the room felt empty without the cheerful youth. Sirius pointedly sulked and glowered out the window. Both Avalon and Peter seemed to shirk away from the dark boy.

Remus, who had been quiet through much of the ride, turned away from Sirius. He was always very sensitive to his friend, who was feeling left out, but there was no reason for him to baby anyone. When he spoke, it was about something completely unrelated to James' head boy duties.

"Am I to take it that Joan Thestile is the reason for your presence today, Gail?" Remus asked darkly.

Gail's heart leap at the dark look in Remus' eyes. He was finally taking notice of her, but she wasn't really sure she liked being glared at. His dark look was quite heavy and questioning. All she could do was laugh and shrug, "sure, if it gives me an excuse to sit with you."

"Right," Remus rolled his eyes and breathed heavily, turning his head away. He weakly mimicked Sirius' sulking mood for half a second.

"Oh, don't be like that darling," Gail crooned, sliding her hand across his elbow. "You know I prefer your scent over Jo's..."

There was a thump out in the hallway. The door was ripped open and there stood Jo. A haze of perfume floated around her. For a second, her face was rife with anger. She swallowed quickly and her face quickly reverted to her usual smile: fake, cold, deserted.

"Well, well," Jo cooed. "You bunch look rather cozy, don't you."

"We sure are." Avalon recovered quickly, to Gail's surprise. The blonde was able to continue the conversation before Jo could even cast her smiling, cold eyes around the compartment. "You're welcome to join us if you let us use a smell reducing charm on you."

Sirius laughed. His face light up with a charming smile. He really shouldn't have laughed, by Gail's standards. The hurt look behind Jo's eyes told her so much, though the girl's smile did not shift in the slightest. Gail couldn't take Sirius' annoying laughter for very long. Instead, she stood up and offered Jo a seat.

"I'm so sorry, Jo. I didn't realize that you would be sitting alone. Have a seat. We'll do something to make your perfume a little bit more manageable, okay?" Gail spoke softly enough, eyes full of sympathy. Jo probably still had feelings for Sirius, even if he was acting like a complete child.

"Er- alright." Jo nervously allowed Gail to reduce the potency of the perfume by quite a bit, so that only someone sitting on top of the girl could smell it. Jo looked quite relieved when it was over, as Gail felt a small measure of self satisfaction from being able to use a minor makeup reducing charm to help one of her fellow Griffindors.

"So what made you head over this way? Where's Evans?" Sirius asked casually, eyeing Jo with simple disinterest. He didn't seem to acknowledge Peter's adoring stare.

"Some Slytherins were acting like prats," Jo only half answered Sirius' questions as she sunk into the open seat next to Gail, in which James had been sitting. If this annoyed Sirius, it didn't show. "They were running their mouths about the dark lord and his pureblood supremacist purposes."

"Tch- annoying gits," Sirius inputted his thoughts about the Slytherins. "Snivellus there?"

"He sure was. I think he was looking for Lily," Jo confirmed. Her dark eyes lingered on Sirius for a little bit too long. The boy, always one to play along with a joke, pulled a face of utter dislike. The moment of peace was disrupted, though.

Within seconds, a curtain of darkness dropped onto the train. The clattering train ceased moving and lurched to a stop. The stop was rough, but Gail had no trouble staying in her seat as Remus and Jo jostled against her. An eerie silence floated in the compartment. The door was still open, and several shouts echoed throughout the hallway. They were cut short in flashes of light. Gail had an overwhelming sense that something was amiss. It wasn't normal for the train to stop or even for the lights to go out.

"Is everyone okay?" Gail called out in a hushed tone. "Pull out your wands if you have them on hand. We have to go find James..."

"Shhh- something's moving in the hallway," Sirius hissed in warning. Gail felt something move past her: it felt like a small rodent.

A mask appeared in the doorway of the compartment. It almost looked like it was snarling cheerfully at them with a cheshire cat smile. A mystic voice leaked from behind the mask. For a moment, Gail was too frightened to comprehend what the person was saying. The person rambled for a few minutes under the light of their own wand.

"Never," Sirius shouted, pulling a wand on the figure. Before he could cast a spell, though, a red stinger hit him in the chest and he crumpled. Avalon screamed, Jo cried, Remus lunged. A spell met the werewolf and knocked him back against the glass of the window. A trail of blood tinged the window where Remus' head struck and slid down.

"Remus!" Gail shouted, launching her body forward so that she could cling to Remus and guide his body more gently to the ground.

"The dark lord is all powerful," the masked figure hissed. "You will join us, or you will die. You have been warned."

With that, the figure drifted off to haunt the other compartments.

* * *

**Author Note:**

Finals are over! It practically killed me not to write. I'm joking, but there were times when I got this itch...

Who am I kidding. I've been plotting this chapter for a while, even if I wasn't writing. I have also been plotting the second half of this story- scary idea, right? Will the second half be as long as the first? Oh my~!

Anyway, thank you for being patient while I had a gruelling three weeks of school. I plan on finishing the first part of this story by the end of Christmas break in January, so I'll be updating daily again. That's what I'm planning, anyway. Their seventh year will go by really quickly. Don't blink, it'll be over before you can open your eyes!

_-Rue_

_

* * *

  
_

**Jenea Cappoen**: They certainly are foolish. Thank you for giving me some luck. I successfully passed all of my exams. Whoohoo!

**Apocolips**: Dry! Really? I suppose the humour was quite a bit darker, since it revolved around Sirius quite a bit. Hopefully, you enjoyed this chapter a bit more!

**XxGrimmy**: It's alright! I've missed my own updates for a few weeks, up until exams. I've been typing as fast as I can to get this chapter out. I wouldn't mind James too much, though. He's quite sturdy. They've taken on the trolls! Oh my, oh my. So much fun, so little time. I really would love to get this story complete soon- my next semester is going to be a pain, so I might not be able to update regularly. Boohoo.

I like frozen yoghurt. It's more gentle on my poor, lactose intolerant stomach. I would like to put some in Snape's beak... Frozen yoghurt, that is. Any flavour, really. I love fruity flavour. Mmm.

Booze! My one statement for the people that say Harry Potter has too much drinking. I read a paper that criticized all drinking: everything from butterbeer to potions and the single malt whiskey that the Beauxbatons horses drink.


	60. Chapter 60

**Chapter 60**

It took Avalon and Jo a moment to overcome their emotions. After they were sure that the Death Eater was gone, they broke into action. Jo easily removed the stunning spell from Sirius before helping him to sit in the chair. Avalon moved to help Gail with Remus, who seemed to be bleeding profusely on the girl's robes, not that she minded. His skull had cracked open on its collision with the window.

"Hold him steady. I'll do my best to heal the cut on his head," Avalon commanded in a hushed tone. The blonde did as she said she would, tracing her wand along the base of Remus' crown. A gentle, silver light slid from the wand into Remus and seemed to ignite his skin with a tint of silver for a second.

"He needs to rest now," Avalon continued. "It looks like he's stopped bleeding."

"Where's James?" Sirius groaned, struggling against Jo to stand up. Gail couldn't tell where he was looking since it was quite dark in their compartment. She assumed he was staring towards Remus, waiting for an answer.

"I'll go look for him. I'm sure he's with Lily... I hope the two of them are okay," Gail spoke, finding her voice strangely passive. "You stay here and look after them. Remus shouldn't be moved around too much."

With that said, Gail helped Avalon move Remus up to the seats, where his head could rest on the cushions. Confident that Jo and Avalon could look after the two boys, Gail plucked her fallen wand off the ground and headed out the door. Not a soul was in the hallway, to her relief. The remnants of heat from the train lingered in the hallway: a sign that the Death Eater's attack on the Hogwarts Express was meant to do little more than scare the students.

Gail darted down the hall. Every now and then, she would carefully glance in the open doorways of different compartments. Nothing but terrified children in each compartment Gail passed by. Some children were crying, others were trying to calm their friends down. Most didn't even notice Gail walk by. Other, younger Griffindors acknowledged her as she walked by. Mary MacDonald and her group seemed frightened, but they had their wands out to ward off any suspicious characters.

"Everything okay?" Gail asked the younger students quietly. Three of the other girls nodded in confirmation, much to Gail's relief. She didn't know their names, but she was still happy to know that some of those she recognized were fine.

"What's going on?" Mary asked quickly. She always one to poke around for information. "There was a masked figure here- a Death Eater? What happened?"

"I'm not sure, but that was a Death Eater. I think they're just looking to stir up more support from the younger students," Gail explained quietly. "I'm heading down the hall to look for the head students, to see if I can help them out."

"I see," Mary nodded firmly. "Don't let us keep you here. We'll holler if anyone else comes by."

"Take care," Gail offered a weak smile to the girl, admiring how Mary had everything together when normal people would more uselessly scared. There was an incident that Gail remembered. Mulciber had hexed Mary so badly that she had to stay in the hospital wing for a week. It was stunning that the girl wasn't even scared of the dark arts after the event.

Gail continued on down the hall before, unfortunately stumbling over someone.

"Ouch!"

James' voice. There was no way Gail couldn't recognize it, even in the dark. She didn't light her wand up, in case there were Death Eaters still lingering on the train. Carefully, she dropped a hand toward the train's floor. She found some material.

"James, it's me," Gail spoke quietly. "Got in a fight?"

"Scared the Death Eater off," James hissed quietly. "But he hit me pretty bad. I was lucky he didn't kill me right away. Lily went to see about the train's conductor. She'll be back soon."

"Can you stand?" Gail asked quietly. She offered James an arm and he used it to pull himself onto his feet. It didn't seem that he was too hurt. He wasn't leaning or favouring a wound, from what Gail could see. He was breathing sharply, though. It was probable that he had been tortured at some point. She remembered the pain of the Cruciatus curse. Sympathy welled in her heart for James, as she allowed him to lean on her.

"Potter?" Lily's gentle voice drifted towards them.

"Here. How's the conductor?" James responded, forcing his legs to become more steady and took a step away from Gail.

"Dead. Th-they killed him, I think. He wouldn't move and he didn't have a pulse. I think there's little we can do here, aside from doing our best to calm the others down and waiting. I set off a signal out of the front window. Hopefully, one of the Professors will realize something is wrong and come to help us." Lily sounded scared. Undoubtedly, she had been crying for the conductor of the train.

James moved silently, pulling his wand out and lighting it up. His face was illuminated and showed how tired he was, even though there was a strong look of "the Death Eaters have left, it seems. We should go find the prefects and get them to help calm the others down. You take that way, I'll head this way."

"Alright," Lily agreed calmly. "Gail, go with James. He looks like he's still in pain."

"Right," Gail nodded, watching Lily dart past. She remembered something that she wanted to say a second before the redhead disappeared. "Avalon and Remus are together, a few compartments down that way. Remus is hurt, but Avalon and Sirius should be able to help out by now."

Lily just waved as she left to show that she understood. Gail focused on the task at hand: James could hardly keep himself up. He had done so only because Lily was there a moment ago. Even when he was in so much pain, he couldn't stand to look weak in front of the redhead. He leaned against the wall.

"Let's go, James. We'll keep an eye out for the Slytherins. Undoubtedly, some have tried to join the Death Eaters. Bet Snape's group has, anyway," Gail retorted, offering James an arm to lean on. He gratefully took it and leaned on her.

"How's Moony? You said he was hurt. What happened?" James asked, his brow furrowing in the light of his wand.

"He hit his head on the window. Hopefully, we can get Pomfrey to take a look at him when we get back to school." Gail braced James as he just about fell over. "The Death Eater hit Sirius with a stunner, but we revived him and he was alright."

James breathed in relief, leaning on Gail as they made their way down the hall.

* * *

A few hours after the train broke down, Gail and James had successfully roused the handful of prefects, who were moving from compartment to compartment to calm people down. The Slytherin prefects were a little bit less enthusiastic about helping, until James threatened to put them all in detention until Christmas. Slowly, he was becoming more and more exhausted.

"Come on, James," Gail spoke soothingly. "You can take a break for a while, until the Professors get here. We'll sit with Remus for a bit."

James shook his head violently, denying his need to rest for a moment. Unfortunately, he had very little say in the matter. Gail was worried about Remus, as she was worried for James, and she was James' walking stick. He had very little say of where they were walking to, when he almost being carried around by Gail.

"Prongs!" Remus' painful grimace ignited when Gail lead the messy haired youth into the compartment. In a moment, James was sitting peacefully on the seats across from Remus, who was still resting his head on the cushion.

"Where are the others?" Gail asked sweetly, sliding onto the seat by Remus and allowing his head to rest on her lap.

"I don't really remember. When I woke up, everyone was gone and I had the worst headache of my life," Remus joked wryly. He seemed to calm down a bit when Gail started running her hands through his coarse, silver tinged hair. "I'm all right, aside from that."

"I'm sure the others went to help Lily," Gail cooed, twirling her pointer finger in Remus' locks. She was extremely happy that he was alright. She hazarded a glance over at James, who had fallen asleep as soon as he sat down.

"Prongs is hurt?" Remus asked, turning his gaze over to James as well. He was careful not to jostle his head too much.

"Mmm, he did the same thing as you. He said he was lucky that the Death Eater didn't do him in."

"I see," Remus sighed heavily, closing his eyes in pain. Gail was sad that there was only so much she could do to ease his pain. Hopefully, nothing was severely wrong with his head.

There was a flash of light and a loud pop. Someone apparated onto the train. In an instant, James was up and out of the compartment. Gail remained seated, still cradling Remus' head in her lap like it was a precious artifact.

"Professor Dumbledore!" Gail heard James speaking. Several other voices resounded in the hallway. Apparently, the arrival of the headmaster was cause for relief, if not celebration. After a few minutes, the lights on the train were restored, and the train lurched into action. Gail could almost imagine Dumbledore acting as the train conductor. Perhaps the conductor wasn't as dead as Lily had thought. There were quite a few hexes that could render a person to the brink of death.

Another twenty minutes passed and Madam Pomfrey skirted into the compartment. She administered some liquid to Remus, who seemed to recover quickly after downing the liquid. Pomfrey left quickly to go check on the other injured students. The ruckus in the hallway eventually died down, and the others wandered back into the compartment. To Gail's surprise, Lily walked in with Avalon and Jo.

"Oh, you two look cosy," Lily smiled fondly at Gail. "I just thought I'd stop by and tell you that you earned Griffindor fifteen points. Dumbledore was impressed that you helped us out and helped keep the others calm. Of course we, James and I, got thirty each since we reacted first."

"Right, right," Gail rolled her eyes. "All victory to the head boy- and girl."

"Well, we're going to sit back in our compartment. See you in a bit." With that, Lily left. Of course, she gave James ones last glance before leaving. Both Jo and Avalon trailed after her.

"She wants me," James confided in them with a grin. Lazily, he ruffled his own hair and glanced at the door. "Close it, Wormtail."

Peter got up and shuffled to the door. He closed it before returning to the seat. The plump teenager seemed to sulk for some reason, shying away from joining their conversation. He averted his eyes from Gail whenever she tried to make eye contact and only ever responded when someone asked him something. Perhaps he was having a hard time adjusting from being in France.

Sirius was laughing at James, but not cruelly, "right, because she's totally all over you, mate. She barely pulled herself away before mauling you."

* * *

"Wow, I can't believe both Amber and Melanie dropped out," Lily spoke in a hushed voice across the table, after The Sorting Hat and Dumbledore's speeches. The girls were enjoying the first feast of their last year. Things felt odd, though. Two females of the Griffindor house decided not to come back for their last year.

"I think Amber's thinking about settling down with her boyfriend. I haven't really received any owls from her over the summer. I hope everything is all right with her," Avalon spoke quietly, too. As if anyone sitting around the four remaining girls cared. "Melanie- well, I think there was no real reason for her to return, and I think she was feeling a bit off in the last few months of our sixth year."

"You mean she was acting like a giant git," Jo snapped. "She was hanging around with some shady Slytherins."

Gail wasn't too keen on talking about Melanie, who had spent a large amount of time tormenting her. She would rather share some information about Amber, "oh, Amber sent me a letter a few weeks ago about dropping out. She said she was due in five months, therefore she couldn't come back to school."

"Pregnant?" Avalon's eyebrows shot up in dismay. Lily seemed perplexed, but kept any comment to herself. Amber was merely seventeen years old: not nearly old or responsible enough to take care of a child. No one spoke for a while, until Gail decided to speak her mind.

"I'm sure Amber will make a great mother," Gail said shortly. "I would be more worried if it was Melanie that was a mother. That child wouldn't last its first night."

"You're telling me! She killed the first plant she ever took care of in Herbology!" Jo spoke with a bit of a laugh. Back in first year, they had all been horrible, but Melanie was the only one to outright kill her plant on the first day.

"Be nice," Lily scolded Jo with nothing more than a look. "Melanie didn't _kill_ her plant, really... Plants can't die that fast, most of the time. It was more that she didn't do anything to save it."

"Same difference," Jo retorted. For a moment, Gail thought the dark haired girl was acting cynical, just like Sirius.

"Ah well," Lily sighed heavily. "I have to get going now. Potter and I are due to open the portrait and show the first years around. I can't believe so many really got sorted into Griffindor this year. I swear half of them- anyway, the password is "fiery pyre". I'll see you back in the common room."

"I bet half of them were so taken with our hero, Lily, that they wanted to join our noble house," Jo laughed rudely.

"I bet it was James or Sirius. Most of the first years that were sorted into Griffindor are girls," Avalon corrected Jo knowledgeably. This caused Gail to snicker, and try to look over the shorter students for the boys. They were sitting near the middle of the table with quite a few girls sitting around them. Remus was looking quite uncomfortable, from what she could see, and James seemed to be enjoying the attention as usual. Of course, when he saw that Lily was about to depart, James followed suit. Half of the girls got up with him.

"Griffindor first years, come with us," James called the table to action. Half of the Griffindor students got up to follow their leader, including Sirius, Remus and Peter. For the first time Gail could remember, the students seemed like a cohesive group. Lily looked a little shocked that so many students were helping to escort the first years back to the common room.

Gail got up after the crowd left, deciding to see if she could spend some time with Remus before heading to bed.

* * *

"Wow! You got a new broom this year, Potter?"

"Well, yeah. My dad got it for me because I made Quidditch captain and head boy," James laughed cheerfully, not really finding anything funny about the statement. He was in a positively glowing mood. Lily had said something along the lines of being impressed that James had deflated his head over the summer.

"When are tryouts, Potter?"

"Friday, next week. We're going to start practicing as much as possible, so we can cream all of the other houses," James responded avidly, not particularly worrying about his workload for the year. It was no different than usual. It wasn't like he had to spend time reviewing, or anything. A round of cheers greeted his declaration of winning the Quidditch Cup for a fifth year in a row.

Sirius looked bored, though. The conversation about James was resulting in the teen looking fairly moody. He looked about ready to tear someone's eyes out after watching Gail and Remus acting all lovey with each other. James noticed that Sirius wasn't watching Gail as he normally would have; there was someone else that had caught his eyes. It was quite easy to see that Avalon had tickled his fancy. The blonde had stopped wearing glasses and had loosened her Griffindor tie a bit. She was far more attractive than James remembered.

Not that James was looking, mind. His mind was full of Lily, Lily, and only Lily. Some blonde bombshell had no effect on him. But it was his job to notice these things as a friend- nay, best friend. It was obvious that Sirius was taking an interest in a different girl. Of course, Thestile had tried dating him, and she was unsuccessful. Perhaps the last Griffindor girl on the list would be more effective than the rest.

"Anyone for a game of exploding snap?" James asked casually, wrapping his thoughts up quickly before anyone could notice he was spacing out. Several of the younger students looked like they were eager to play or watch. "I won't go easy on any of you- just a warning."

Some of the students seemed indecisive, but one boy eventually stepped up to play exploding snap against James. The game only lasted for a few minutes. James won quite fast. The boy looked quite depressed at having lost so quickly.

"Nice try," James patted the guy on the shoulder. "You'll get better for next time."

"Come on, Prongs. You went easy on him!" Sirius hollered, throwing his arm around James. A cheer went up in the Griffindor common room. The students temporarily forgot about their shaky ride on the Hogwarts Express, at least for the evening.

* * *

**Author Note:**

Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays. I hope all of you have a great time with your families and get an extra "something," whether it is love, presents, or joy [from reading this chapter?]

Yes, Sirius is interested in girls. No, I don't think he's very forward about it, but who better to read him than James?

_-Rue_

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**LaurenB16**: Exams were splendid, thank you! And I'm so glad they're over! I don't think you're dense at all! It's Gail who is dense. She has given up on trying to understand why Sirius is aggravated with her. It comes down to the fact that he thinks she's ripping his "family" apart. Honestly, if Remus is dating Gail, and James starts getting cosy with Lily, then who is he stuck with? Peter. That's certainly not something he would be happy with, and I believe that he's the type to hold a grudge against anyone he feels has wronged him [or will wrong him in the future]. As for Remus- if your girlfriend only comes to sit with you on the train because one of her friends is wearing too much perfume, you wouldn't be happy either, right? And Peter? He's going through quite a few changes in his life, and I think he's feeling left out/abandoned/looked down on, as well. Poor Peter. Well, I hope this cleared up some of your questions as to why three quarters of the boys were acting strange on the train.


	61. Chapter 61

**Chapter 61**

If Gail had thought that the Professors would take it easy in their last year of schooling, she was wrong. It seemed like there would be no respite this year. Remus was even worse off than Gail. She merely had three papers due on the following Monday: he had four and had to read at least three chapters more than Gail. They were spending their first Saturday evening together, helping each other to write their Defense Against the Dark Arts paper.

"Oh, who was the person that created the Patronus charm, again?" Gail asked quietly, leaning across the library's table. She was writing her report on Dementors, their habits and how to deal with them.

"Charles Weatherby," Remus responded quickly, turning his soft eyes to her for a moment. There was a hint of a smile in his eyes before he turned back to his own paper.

This was how their time went. Neither spoke very much and both were scribbling as fast as they could. Every once in a while, Gail had to stop and massage her hand to prevent cramping. It was not the most romantic date they'd been on, but it was still nice to have some company while working on the dull papers.

"Oye, Moony!"

Of course the marauders wouldn't leave their mate alone for such a long period of time without making an appearance. It was a marvel that the librarian even let them enter the library, though. Sirius strode about, standing next to Gail and Remus' table with a haughty look in his eyes. James followed him closely with noticeably less strut in his walk. New Improved Potter, now with fifty percent less ego! Of course, Peter scurried behind the other two, his eyes downcast. He seemed to be avoiding everyone a bit more than usual.

"Hello Peter. How're things with you?" Gail asked sweetly, ignoring the cold looks she was receiving from Sirius.

"H-hello G-Gail," Peter muttered, scuffing his toe on the ground. He mumbled something about his herbology project.

"What are you boys up to this evening?" Gail asked casually, pointedly avoiding Sirius' menacing stare.

"We thought you two could use a chaperon... or three," James chided, pulling up a chair so that he could sit with them. Sirius and Peter followed suit. They didn't seem to acknowledge the fact that several girls had followed them into the library and were peaking around the corner at them.

"You just want to cause me trouble," Remus grunted, pushing his paper away. "I'm done this anyway. What's going on?"

"We only have a week to plan out you-know-what," Sirius interjected, passively looking at James, Remus and Peter.

"It wouldn't do to discuss it here," Remus gestured discretely at the girls that were avidly listening to their conversation. He didn't seem very happy about the newly found attention that James and Sirius were receiving. The previous years, they had people crowding them, but would still hex people for fun. This hexing had a way of scaring people away from being too nosy.

"Let's go back to our dorm then," Sirius suggested, pointedly looking over at Gail with a wicked grin. He looked like he had just won the Quidditch cup.

"Don't let me get in your way, boys," Gail retorted, flashing a pointed stare at Sirius. She had already spent a few good hours with Remus. If Sirius was going to be a git, she would let him as long as it didn't interrupt her life. It was her understanding that the full moons were strictly a male bonding time.

"We'll walk you back to the common room," Remus agreed. He carefully backed up his bag. Gail noted that he had at least seven books in his bag, which left so little room that his roll of parchment had to sit on the top. When he stood up, he offered Gail an arm which she took.

"Did you notice that Mulciber and Avery didn't come back this year?" Gail asked them peacefully.

"Undoubtedly, they've successfully joined the Death Eaters, just like their fathers," Sirius growled. He really didn't look all that happy. "At least Snivellus is still around for a bit of fun..."

"How do you know about their fathers? Isn't that presumptuous?" Gail asked cautiously.

"Pureblood families, Gail," Remus spoke softly enough, even if his voice went a little hoarse. "They throw parties-"

"And they just love declaring who has joined the Death Eaters, and who supports Voldemort," Sirius interrupted Remus, his voice filled with spite.

"I'm guessing your disagreed with your parents about that, right?" Gail asked slowly, watching Sirius' face shift from annoyance to anger and frustration. He was obviously thinking about his mother, who wasn't the most pleasant person Gail had ever met. It was probably for the best if she switched the topic. "Don't worry about it, Sirius. At least you know what kinds of people to avoid."

Sirius merely grunted in response before falling silent. Gail was quite glad that she could leave them to their own devices once she reached the common room. The conversation they were having was merely digging her grave for her.

* * *

James shifted uncomfortably. Under Lily's questioning stare, he was feeling quite vulnerable. If he waited too long to answer her, she might become angry. Then again, if he answered too quickly, it would make him look overly eager.

"Well Potter?" Lily asked impatiently. "Are you going to come with me to Professor Dumbledore's office, or not? It is our responsibility, as head boy and girl, to hold several discussions with the headmaster over the year."

"Well, it's probably not a good idea to be wandering by yourself... If the Slytherins approach you, there could be trouble," James stated, giving an excuse to accompany the redhead. "I suppose I had better go with you."

"Oh, how kind of you," Lily remarked sarcastically. She was well aware, as was James, that she could handle herself against a bunch of Slytherins. After they had dealt with the trolls, James had discovered that Lily was more capable than he had thought. The time he had threatened to hex her could easily have been the most embarrassing moment of his life, if he actually had taken a wand up against her. He was lucky that she didn't know that he'd had three encounters with Snivellus within the short period of being back at Hogwarts. None of which had ended well. James wasn't proud of winning the "duels" against Snape, but it normally seemed like a life or death situation. Snivellus really wasn't happy that James was Head Boy, and was doing his best to cause chaos everywhere he could, along with the handful of Slytherins that remained at school.

"So I've noticed that two girls dropped out of Hogwarts," James commented, doing his best to execute some small chat. He just wished his stomach would calm down. It felt like he swallowed a bunch of molten iron. "Any idea why?"

"Well, Amber is looking to take care of her 'family' matters... And we're not sure about Melanie," Lily explained shortly. "You do remember who Melanie is, right?"

"The one that was tormenting Gail?" James sighed reluctantly. "I squeezed that out of her over the summer. I heard Melanie was nicking stuff and conveniently placing it in Gail's truck and on her night table... Pleasant girl, really."

"She certainly was lovely... Until she decided that Gail was ruining her life. Somehow, she became a terror and started seeing a Slytherin. Mulciber, I think. I wouldn't be surprised if she went off to join him, too," Lily frowned at the floor as they continued walking. It was obvious that the whole ordeal had struck a nerve. "Let's change the topic, Potter. I heard you made Quidditch Captain. Congratulations are in order."

James grinned wryly. This coming from the girl that had said his broom wouldn't fly because of his ego. She was actually starting a conversation about him: he would take whatever chance she gave him, "thanks. I figured that either Thestile or I would make captain before any of the sixth years, but I didn't think I'd be head boy on top of it all. That was quite a shock, but my dad was tickled pink. My mum and dad were head girl and boy in their day, too. I just hope I can make her proud..."

"I'm glad to see you taking your job seriously," Lily nodded in approval. "I never thought-..."

"You never thought I would, right?" James laughed in a mature way. "If you asked me to be Head Boy back in first year, I probably would have laughed at you. Now, though, I think everyone needs a leader to look to during these rough times."

"Well, if you're anything, you're a splendid leader," Lily stated. Luckily, she didn't notice that James' ears went crimson. He didn't know whether she was deliberately setting him up or if she was being sincere, but he was in heaven, either way.

"Ah, we're here. Scotch mints," Lily watched as the guardian gargoyle moved aside before walking in. She calmly opened the door and stepped inside, without even announcing her presence to the headmaster.

"Ah, right on times, Miss Evans. I see you've brought James with you," Dumbledore greeted them with an open gesture. There was a faint twinkle of humour in his eyes. He was amused that they were together, when they usually couldn't get along for more than two minutes. The use of James' first name seemed to throw Lily off for a moment. She was unaware that James' family had been close with Dumbledore's for a while. One of Dumbledore's closest friends and confidants lived next to him for as long as he could remember.

"I've called you here to discuss the future," Dumbledore started calmly, taking a seat behind his desk. With a sweep of his wand, two chairs appeared in front of the desk. After settling himself into a chair, James turned his full attention back to the headmaster.

"As you well know, Voldemort and his Death Eaters have been growing more powerful for ten years," Dumbledore continued, his eyes showing a world of sadness as he looked on James. "I have created a secret order for the purpose of preventing Voldemort from usurping the power of the Ministry of Magic and in order to protect witches, wizards and muggles from him. As it is, though, the order has become more and more strained over the years. There is far too much work for the handful of us to do. Too much fighting to do as we are now.

"This is why I have chosen the two of you to because head boy and girl this year," Dumbledore paused for a moment. "Both of you are exceptionally talented, and some of the best students in your year. Above all of that, you are very influential to the students surrounding you and both of you posses the courage to stand up to the Death Eaters."

"What do you want us to do?" James asked curiously, leaning forward eagerly. He noticed that Lily was also listening avidly.

"I would like for both of you to join the order when you graduate," Dumbledore concluded.

"I'm in," James agreed first. He knew all along that he would join the order with his father.

"Me too. I will join after we graduate," Lily agreed, as well. "I don't want to see any more families ripped apart. I want to help..."

"Excellent." Dumbledore stood, looking somewhat ominous. "We will also need to help of your close friends. I will extend the invitation to those that you trust."

"That's all of the Griffindor house, isn't it?" Lily looked shocked, but Dumbledore simply nodded. It was obvious that he was recruiting Griffindors first, as they were the ones that would stand up against pureblood supremacists first.

"What about the other houses, Professor?" James asked curiously.

"Any other recruits will be carefully screened. As I have said, we don't wish to put more people in danger than is absolutely necessary. To be frank, I was worried that the Death Eaters specifically targeted the two of you on the train. It's quite possible that there is a spy in Hogwarts who has been leaking information about students to the Death Eaters. It's important to tread carefully. Do not talk about the order of the phoenix unless you are absolutely sure that you can not be overheard," Dumbledore sighed heavily, running a finger over one of his silver bobbles. It looked like a palm-sized model of the Earth.

Lily nodded firmly, agreeing with Dumbledore's methods. James reluctantly agreed, as well. Sure, he wasn't friends with very many Hufflepuffs or Ravenclaws, but those that he knew were decent folks who just didn't have the stuff to be placed in Griffindor.

"Good," Dumbledore smiled warmly for a moment. "Big things will come and this war won't be easy. We'll need all the help we can get."

* * *

"The Order of the Phoenix? That's fine." Sirius shrugged nonchalantly, uninterested in something that wasn't going to happen for a while yet.

"This is serious, Padfoot," Remus stated, causing the dark boy's face to twist in guilt. Sirius didn't even attempt his own name pun. "If we don't work with the Order, the Death Eaters will win. If you honestly want people like your parents to take over-"

"No!... No," Sirius growled, glaring at Remus. Of course, there was no real anger in his short outburst. He was probably more upset with himself. "You know I don't. Not like my family."

"We could probably help Dumbledore the most by keeping ourselves out of trouble this year. Free up some of his time so that he, and the other Professors, can deal with the Death Eaters," Remus remarked slowly.

"Well, we can use the head boy, girl and Griffindor prefect powers to help keep the other students in line, as well," James remarked. "But that's rather..."

"Not 'cool'?" Sirius laughed. It almost sounded like Padfoot's 'happy' bark. "But I guess we'll have to put up with it. It's only one year, right? But we can still hex the Slytherins, right? Snivellus is asking for it."

"As long as we make sure no professors are in the area, it should be fine to teach Snivellus a lesson, or two," James agreed. There was a momentary pause in the boy's dormitories. The only sound was Peter raking his fingernails across a textbook nervously. He had been surprisingly quiet for the entire time. James was just about to ask him about it when Remus spoke.

"What about the girls?"

"Lil-Evans is dealing with them. It's likely that they'll all join," James stated knowledgeably. Who, in their right mind, would turn down Lily?

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Sirius grumbled. "Did you see Gail staring at Dumbledore during the speech? She seemed quite sore about something..."

Remus nodded slowly, "it's probable that she still hasn't forgiven him for what happened with the Prewetts."

"That happened ages ago, though," James frowned. "Besides, she would be doing good by helping out the order."

"It wasn't ages, Prongs," Remus corrected him. "Though they only took her in for a year, she was very attached to them. I don't think she'll ever trust Dumbledore again. She blames him for putting Mr. Prewett in danger and Mrs. Prewett's death."

"But she doesn't know that Dumbledore is a fault," James growled. His chest seemed to harden slightly. Dumbledore was a great man, from everything James' father said and everything that he had seen with his own eyes. Gail was just being ridiculous and hard headed. The pig headed girl would cautiously over-think things at times and at others she would follow her emotions to a the letter.

"I don't know anything for sure, but if Lily can't convince Gail... Well, there's no chance that any of us will be able to either. I suggest staying away from that topic, if you want to maintain your friendship with her."

"Would she really not join for such a reason? Spite against Dumbledore?" Sirius looked mildly interested in the topic.

James blew some air out through his nose, and turned away from his friends. The topic made him angry at Gail and at Remus for even suggesting that they continue their friendship with someone that wasn't on the same wavelength as everyone else. If she wasn't going to help, they didn't need her. Well, James wouldn't force the issue right away, since Remus and Gail were still an item, but if anything went wrong... James had an idea of what they would do.

* * *

**Author Note:**

Okay, okay! It's a really short chapter [for a reason]. This is what you get when I try playing Dragon Age, Guitar Hero, and practicing with my new tablet, all in one day... Well, not really. I was far more motivated with this chapter. I wanted to show how dark things are getting, even if things aren't so bad yet. There's quite a bit of foreshadowing here! I dare you to skim through this chapter to see if you can find it all.

I planned on having this ark a little bit later in their seventh year, but I think recruiting people into the Order of the Phoenix will be fairly interesting. I feel like I've forgotten something, though. Have I forgotten anything important? Are there characters that you haven't seen or heard about in a while that I should investigate into? Aside from Peter, who sometimes gets left out, due to being in "France" for a good chunk of summer.

By the way, if you want something entertaining, try searching for "A Very Potter Musical" on youtube. It will entertain you for a while, I'm sure. Malfoy is truly hilarious.

-_Rue_

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**XxGrimmy**: Oh, a party? Why wasn't I invited? I'm quite relieved they're in the final year, actually. It's something that I can't research, in terms of classes and things. Therefore, most of the content will be from my own imagination and what little information I can scrape together... Ah, fun. I knew that I had ice cream wrong. For some reason, my brain is screaming that it should be one word, or two separated like so: "ice-cream". Alas, I should probably clean my brain out. I'm glad the previous two chapters count as gifts. It sounds like you had fun.

**Apocolips**: Oh, I'm glad you like chapter 59 and 60. Phew!! The boys really are feeling the extent of the times, and maybe puberty, too! I simply love making Sirius dark and troubled. Jo certainly does seem to get the short end of the stick and I think Gail would agree with you, but I think it's because she comes across as, well, fake. She hides her real feelings and that makes her quite boring. Ah well, she's useful! I passed my exams -phew- and Christmas was decent. I hope you have a great Holiday, as well.


	62. Chapter 62

**Chapter 62**

"Gail, can I have a word with you?" After Charms one morning, Lily cornered her without hinting at a reason why. It must have been important if Lily didn't want to discuss it during class.

"Of course," Gail was a little bit shocked that her friend needed to take such a curt and firm tone with her, but she was unaware just how deep their conversation would be. The redhead pulled her along down one of the deserted corridors. After checking the vicinity, Lily pulled her into a small, dusty classroom. Gail faintly remembered being locked in one of the cupboards in the very same room.

"Felt like taking a trip through out memories, Lily?" Gail joked lightly. She tilted her head in confusion when Lily didn't even smile.

"That's not it. We have to discuss something important, and no one ever comes to this classroom. Butterbeer?" Lily pulled out a few bottles of the brown stuff out of her bag. Her mood seemed quite dampened. Gail couldn't bring herself to turn the redhead down, but neither did she drink the sweet liquid.

"Something tells me you didn't bring me here to discuss boys, right? Unless you want to talk about Potter... No? What is it, Lily?" Gail's voice deepened with concern. Lily's face was still eerily still and stoney.

"Gail, how would you feel about joining the Order of the Phoenix with... us. Potter and his friends, Avalon and I... I mean, Jo said she would join if she hadn't already agreed to play for one of the professional Quidditch teams next year," once Lily started speaking, her words tumbled like a waterfall.

"I-er..." It took Gail a moment to realize what Lily was asking her. To join the Order!

It would mean fighting alongside Mr. Moody, the Prewett brothers and many others, as well as Gail's best friends. It would mean fighting against those that hurt and killed good people, like Mr. Prewett and Mrs. Potter. It would mean taking a stand against the Death Eaters and their supremacist ideas.

Unfortunately for Gail, it also meant placing her safety in Dumbledore's hands. She wasn't sure that it was a wise idea to trust the old man with everything. Not to mention the fact that joining would strain her ability to work for the ministry's magical creature nursery. There were few enough people working there without her being unable to help out, as well.

"Give me a while to think about it, Lily," Gail groaned desperately, her insides tying themselves in bows. It didn't look like her hesitation was what Lily had wanted. This much showed on the redhead's face.

"What do you mean, Gail? If you're going to join then-"

"It's not that simple! You know I would do anything to help you out- to help Remus out too, but to join the Order?" Gail grabbed a bunch of her own hair in frustration. Anxiety seeped out of her as if she was a sponge being squeezed. Without thinking, she ripped the ends of a few of her fingernails off with her teeth.

"Then why? Why aren't you going to help us?" Lily demanded, cruelly daring to prod into Gail's emotions.

"Please Lily," Gail pleaded, her eyes wide in fear. It wasn't like Lily to force information out of Gail in such a way, but it was a really important topic. The redhead wouldn't hear her, though. Such as it was, Lily was a second away from exploding in anger. Gail took a deep breath and attempted to force the stress to disappear. It didn't work very well.

"Explain to me why you won't," Lily half growled. "What could be so important that you would abandon your friends."

"You know my work at the nursery is important. If I'm not working there, they'll be really strained. Who knows what kind of effect Dumbledore and Voldemort's war will have on them?" Lily didn't look convinced at all, but Gail continued anyway. "One of the supervisors has already gone missing. He's either dead or under the Death Eaters' control."

"And working for the ministry is more important than helping us out?" Lily fumed, emerald eyes blazing.

"That's not true, Lily," Gail started, exasperated. "I'm more than willing to help the Order: it's not like they won't need eyes everywhere they can get. I- I'm just unsure that I can trust Professor Dumbledore. He's playing god when he doesn't know the outcome."

"None of us know what will happen, Gail, but it's still important for us to fight," Lily's tone softened.

"I know, I just wish he wouldn't act like he's all-knowing. He's not perfect. If he was, I don't think Mrs. Prewett would have..." Gail's voice wavered and thoughts of the woman's anguish filled her mind. "Would have passed away. I really don't want to place myself in that situation, Lily. I'll still help out every chance I get, but you know that working with the nursery is an exhausting and thankless job. Not to mention the chance of being attacked for harbouring werewolves during the full moon. You didn't see the letters we got over the summer.

"They threatened us," Gail continued defiantly. "With stupid letters _commanding_ us to shut down during full moons in order to force the werewolves that weren't with 'You-Know-Who' into his service. In order to force them to go out and attack muggles and wizards. Disgusting gits. We had a few people quit over it, too. Scared for themselves and their families... I doubt they're faring well- so many are scared. I just hope those that are left are feeding the animals properly."

Lily's jaw almost dropped. She was probably shocked that Gail had already seen some of the horrors of the real world. Luckily for Gail, her friend was understanding. There were some things that one had to fight for, and Gail had long since chosen to fight for the werewolves and any other creature that didn't have a strong voice. If this included fighting against anyone who felt that it was their right to step over those with less power, such as the Death Eaters, then so be it. Gail decided, in that moment, that she would give the Order a hand whenever she could, even if she wasn't an extremely active member.

"I'll join, Lily," Gail continued. "But I'm warning you that it won't be easy. You, or anyone else in the Order, might not see me terribly often. I'll be more of a ghost member, I think. Working at and protecting the nursery will be my primary job, above all else. Honestly, someone has to prevent the Death Eaters from walking about and just simply taking what they want."

Lily was about to speak, a hint of a smile on her face. Of course, Gail had to dash this by speaking over the redhead, "I also won't take orders from Professor Dumbledore, but he probably already knew that when he sent you to recruit us. I will chose where I help out and when... Don't look at me like that, Lily. We choose who to trust and I feel that I can't trust him yet. Perhaps I haven't been forced into the corner, but that's just how I feel."

"I understand," Lily said slowly. "You've seen more than the rest of us- you lived with two members of the Order, right? The Prewett brothers... So I understand that you'd want to avoid some... things. We just have one problem."

"What's that?" Gail asked quietly, wondering what Lily could be going on about.

"I think I'm in love..."

* * *

Gail decided to use the time during to spend some time thinking. She had shirked away from Remus, Lily and all of the other Griffindors. Originally, she planned to visit Kettleburn after realizing that she hadn't had a conversation with the man in a while. When she approached the little house on the edge of the forest, Gail found Hagrid working there.

"Hello Hagrid," Gail called warmly after watching the burly man weeding his little garden.

The large man swung around with a bright smile under his beard. He seemed to be a lot less shy than he had been the first time Gail met him. He was about to speak when Kettleburn flung himself out of his house.

"Ah! Forester, I could use your help today. The ministry has started bothering the centaurs, yet again. They don't seem to mind you, though, so they might calm down and talk to you," Kettleburn seemed positively full of fury. Gail couldn't remember seeing him so mad.

"What has the ministry done?" Gail asked curiously. She hadn't read much of the literature that the ministry had put forth concerning how to deal with the different creatures, but she knew that there was some serious discrimination. Centaurs were typically treated as beasts, as they had decided to be classified the same as the mermaids.

"Ministry did many things... Most recently, they've declared that each herd must remain within their allotted boundaries. It's different from how centaurs usually live- they're nomads. Restricting their movement has mad them quite angry," Kettleburn spoke, guiding Gail towards the forest. "Hopefully, we'll be able to talk them down before they revolt."

Gail nodded nervously. They walked in silence for a moment, passed quite a few large trees and some shrubs. After a while, the thundering of hooves shook the earth. When it stopped, a tall centaur was staring down at Kettleburn with fury in his eyes. Gail recognized him, it was one of the centaurs she had met in the forest before.

"Hello Bane," Kettleburn growled, staring up at the intimidating creature. His only response was a loud, scoffing snort.

"You are not welcome within our forest, human," Bane's deep voice reverberated. "Whatever your reason. If we are confined to this area, then it is ours. You do not have permission to be here."

Things were about to get ugly. Gail noted that several of the centaurs had their bows trained on the professor. They didn't look very happy to have their home invaded. The anger she had seen before was nothing, it wasn't even comparable to the fury in Bane's eyes.

"Hello Bane," Gail squeaked. The tall centaur's eyes shifted to her impatiently. She had his attention for the moment. "Kettleburn accompanied me into the forest to make sure nothing happened to me. Please don't hurt him."

Bane laughed, almost rudely, before he spoke again, "nothing in this forest would hurt you. But since you have come back, the elder will want to see you. Human, leave _now_."

Kettleburn turned his gaze to Gail, who only nodded. She knew what she had to do, even if it meant going by herself. She wasn't afraid of the centaurs, nor anything else in the forest. There certainly wouldn't be werewolves around during the middle of the day. After watching Kettleburn skulk back towards the edge of the forest slowly, Gail turned her attention back to the centaurs. She remembered the last time she'd met Bane: Hagrid had been quite worried.

"It's good to see that you're still healthy, Bane, even if your temper has shortened over the years," Gail commented dryly. Bane just stared down at her, not understanding the joke. A few of the other centaurs smiled while he was looking away.

"Come, our elder wants to teach you how to harness your power," Bane spoke stiffly. He didn't offer his back to Gail, but he did walk slowly around tree roots and shrubs. Not once did he turn around to check that his human charge was still following him. The other centaurs spirited around the other two, as if checking that the area was safe.

They walked for a while. Gail was quite happy that the mellow sun provided enough heat to prevent a the cold from taking root in the forest, but it wasn't uncomfortably hot. For the most part, Gail recognized the area they were walking through. Eventually, Bane lead the way to Fanin, who was standing by one of the largest trees in the forest. There was something mystical about the huge tree, from the quick glance Gail gave it.

"Greeting, little foal," Fanin smiled sweetly down at her. He took a welcoming stance towards Gail, as he had before.

"You're looking well, Fanin," Gail did her best to return an equally bright smile. She had long since come to terms with what the centaur had told her. She still felt that she was a human, even if she wasn't 'born' the same way as any others. If she was different, though, perhaps she would be able to use her skills to help against Voldemort and his _posse_.

"I know what you have come here for, little one." Fanin started. He shook his head, causing his illustrious white hair to splay over his shoulder. "Do not fear, we will not riot. As wise as we are, we know that we do not have the strength to fight the wizards. It would be a mass slaughter of our people and that is not something we're willing to risk. Let us act discontent, it will not go any further than that."

"We should be doing more, Elder," Bane interrupted. "The humans don't understand. They only think of pushing our limits and their own greed-"

"Enough, Bane," Fanin boomed, cutting short the irritable centaur. "We will not revolt. There is too much at stake in these times. Do not think that the wizarding ministry will overlook us just because we are less threatening than the dark wizards."

Bane huffed before turning away from the elder. It was obvious that he thought that a centaur revolt was the only way to have their voices heard, even if it would be a horribly bloody massacre.

"Now, since we have addressed your concerns, I feel that it's time for you to address ours. You have had plenty of time to understand what you are," Fanin stated bluntly, searching Gail with his youthful, golden eyes. "We would train you now, if you would like."

"Train me?" Gail asked curiously. "How do you intend to do so, if I'm the only one of my 'kind'?"

"Perhaps you have noticed the tree behind me," Fanin stated calmly, side-stepping so that Gail could stare up at the tree. It loomed over the group of centaurs ominously, but not malevolently. It was the most mystical being Gail had ever seen. Thick veins of magic ran through the tree and were almost blindingly bright. The centaurs didn't seem to notice these veins, though. It was quite different from the dark shadows of the Hogwarts paintings.

"This tree is one that our ancestors brought with them in the form of a seed," Fanin explained. "Its parent was one that was known to be grown by your mother in a time when the magic of the earth was more raw and untameable. Such trees were not rare in those times, you see."

Gail nodded, admiring the intricate pattern of the veins on the bark of the tree. It was more eccentric than any painting, more elaborate than any mosaic. The power fed the tree and the tree fed the power. It was a perfect coexistance.

"I would ask you to touch the tree," Fanin continued dryly. "It will grant you a vision of the past, perhaps. We are not completely sure of how such a thing will affect you."

A warmth filled Gail, almost like touching the tree was the right thing to do. As she approached it, with her hand outstretched, the tree seemed with welcome her with a warm glow. How a tree could be warm was anyone's guess. Gail faltered for a moment before gently placing her hand onto one of the thicker, silvery veins. The last sound she heard was Fanin's deep, tender voice rushing in her ears.

It was like being dropped into a pool. Gail found all the world around her became muted and grey. Everything came to a halt. None of the centaurs moved. No sound came from the woods around Gail. A welcoming silence protruded Gail's mind. Her hand was still on the tree, and everything else was in place around her.

"Like walking into a black and white movie," Gail muttered to herself, finding that her voice seemed detached from herself, like it was coming through the bark of the tree. Strange, ancient magic was at work around her. Easing herself away from the tree, Gail found that everything became more solid around her, even if the colours didn't return to the forest.

"Hello?" Gail called. Again, her voice erupted from the tree. Somehow, she had the feeling that she was only able to see and speak through the tree. She had no real power in this in-between place.

"Ah," a ghostly whisper tickled Gail's senses. "You have finally come to me, my child. I have waited so long. Too long."

A woman, clad in pale silver robes and trinkets, appeared before Gail. She stood out so much, just standing in front of the tree, because she was more colourful than the rest of the world. The woman's pale, silvery skin was completely smooth and she had a petit, delicate nose. Her hair was the same colour as Gail's, if the silvery tint were to be removed from the woman's hair. Overall, the woman looked like she had bathed in a pool of lead.

"I am but a shadow, a memory of the past," the woman explained quietly. She seemed almost eerily peaceful, even if she emanated the same feeling as the tree had. "Oh, were I alive, my child! You have been alone for so long."

It hit Gail. The woman looked like she had been crying for a long time. Waves of sadness crashed in the oceans of the woman's eyes. The amount that she longed for her life was not comprehensive to those that were still alive.

"How is this possible?" Gail asked awkwardly, taking her time to examine the woman's mannerisms. She soon found that the woman did not completely act like a human.

"The tree stores memories and passes them down to its children, my dear," the silvery woman spoke with a sad smile. "Were I alive, I would be your mother. Perhaps this strikes at your heart, as it does mine. Perhaps not."

Gail couldn't express herself properly. She found no need for parents or being coddled. She was almost an adult herself. Family was such a thing that could be taken away too easily. Over the course of the last two years, she had come to grips with the reality that her family was non-existent. Instead, she found a family of friendships.

"I understand how you feel, but there is nothing that can be done about that," Gail spoke deliberately, trying and failing to avoid the woman's knowing gaze.

"Of course. You wish to learn more about your father's gift. How to control that which you know nothing of," Eurydice spoke softly. "I will teach you what I can, what my husband has told me. You have his power, child, and it has been in you since the day you were created."

* * *

**Author Note:**

Ah, delays. I'm really sorry it took so long. This chapter was extremely hard for me to write for two reasons. I originally planned to have Gail tell Lily off for asking her to join the Order. I decided this wouldn't work, because Gail is so pliable towards her friends. The second reason is that I wanted no discrepancies between the previous centaur meeting and the meeting in this chapter.

Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter. I think the next one should be interesting, too. Eurydice is such a sad character. Her "shadow" really does mourn her death.

Anyway, Happy New Years. I hope all of you have a great year.

-_Rue_

_

* * *

  
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**Apocolips**: Oh my! I thought so, too. The chapter was a lot of dialogue, but I think it's necessary to see what the boys are thinking. The thing with James is expected, right? He doesn't understand how people can NOT help out against the Death Eaters. It's the way he was raised and the fact that he wants to be just like his father. We see the "not on our side, therefore can't trust/not friend" in the books, when they stop trusting Remus. It is one of James' traits, sadly enough. I don't know what else to say, really. I don't think he's going to be happy with Gail for being a "shadow" member.

**LaurenB16**: Yes. Stupid Voldemort always gets in the way of a happy ending. Remus! My poor, poor Remus. I can't believe Rowling just did Harry's last fatherly character in like that [not including the Arthur.]

**XxGrimmy**: Yes, James is a closed-minded git, but it's part of the times. Think about it: there's fear, suspicion and Voldemort's spies everywhere! Through all of that, it's not really a wonder that relationships become strained. I totally don't like Dumbledore. I just watched The Halfblood Prince. Hurgh! It's my least favourite so far: I didn't even cry during Dumble's death. I hope the last movie is better. Angry Remus! Ah! That's all I have to look forward to, at least.

Ah, I had a fun New Years party. We played Rockband and Dragon Age- and we had fake champagne [because my friend is sick and a ninja, apparently.]


	63. Chapter 63

**Chapter 63**

"Nope, sorry mate," Sirius shook his head, examining Remus impatiently. "Haven't seen her since lunch."

Remus seemed to hunch over slightly. He had been worried all day about his girlfriend, for whatever reason. Neither James nor Sirius had even bothered about her. It was dusk and she still hadn't returned to the common room. Lily had, of course, along with Thestile and the other blonde Griffindor.

"I'm worried. She's not with the other girls. I haven't spoken with her since yesterday. What if she got into an argument with Lily and ran off into the forest?" Remus fretted over Gail and it was obviously grinding on Sirius' nerves.

"Oye, Evans," James called across the common room. He raised his voice so that she could hear him. Lily marched over dutifully, even if she still warily kept an eye on them.

"What is it, Potter?" Lily asked sharply, her emerald eyes fixed on him. James' stomach leapt happily.

"Moony was wondering if you've seen Gail since lunch?" James asked maturely. Lily shook her head calmly.

"We talked about _it_, and she actually _agreed_ to join- hesitantly, but she did agree. I think she might need some time to herself, though," Lily spoke in a hushed tone, leaning closer to James to make sure he could hear. "I pushed her pretty hard to make a decision... She really didn't want to make it."

Out of the corner of his eye, James could tell that Remus was not happy with this bit of news. Perhaps it was the fact that Gail was made to feel like a cornered animal or maybe he couldn't hear Lily properly.

"You didn't have to force her," Remus' harsh voice resounded, causing Lily's face to drop. "She would have made the right choice eventually."

"What's done is done," Lily sniffed, looking almost offended by Remus' presence. "It wasn't like I told her I would hex her if she didn't join, either. She made the choice, just faster than she normally would have-"

"Right, because you know she likes to think things over before deciding anything," Remus interrupted Lily sharply. The redhead's face dropped in guilt. "Excuse me, I think I'm going to look for her."

Remus cast a scathing look at Lily before leaving without another word. The redhead soon returned to her spot with his two friends, albeit looking quite guilty. James snickered, feeling around in his bag for the map of Hogwarts. After checking that no one was paying too much attention to him, he muttered the password under his breath and unfolded part of the map on top of his Transfiguration textbook.

He watched Remus walking quickly through the castle for a few seconds before unfolding a bit more of the map. Scanning it quickly, James decided that Gail wasn't in any of the normal places; the library, the abandoned classrooms, or the bathrooms. She was probably somewhere on the grounds. Remus would be able to find her easily enough, if she wanted to be found by him. If not, then he was wasting his time.

"Find anything interesting?" Sirius asked casually, throwing a look over his shoulder. He was busy playing a muggle card game with Peter. The dark teen was holding less cards and James assumed he would win.

"Ah, Gail is probably wandering the grounds again," James sighed and folded the map back up. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he was quite relieved that Gail had joined the order. She was such a kind girl, not to mention the fact that she was one of Lily's best friends. Also, he felt that she deserved to be trusted, for the most part, after living with her for a month or so.

Sirius snorted rudely before turning back to his game. He obviously didn't care what the tawny haired girl was doing. Peter seemed more intrigued by the whole thing than Sirius, anyway, but the pudgy boy was focusing on trying to win. Neither boy seemed interested in the stares they were receiving from the others in the common room.

* * *

Gail took a deep breath to steady her nerves. The silvery woman, her mother, was offering her a way to learn how to manipulate her power over other living creatures. In a way, Gail would be able to enlighten her entire world. The possibilities were endless.

"First of all, you must open your mind to the wonders of the world," Eurydice droned. "Allow the ancient magic of the tree to fill you up and guide you. Everything will be just fine once a connection is established."

Gail relaxed and attempted to 'open her mind' as she was instructed. She was doing the best she could with such vague instructions. For a moment, she remembered the apparition lessons she had last year. There was a parallel between the two. Perhaps there was a club where all elderly people learned to teach in the same, vague way.

"You aren't focusing enough," Eurydice's musical, hushed voice chided her. How was it possible that a person have such a lovely voice? Was this silvery woman really a nymph or the daughter of a god, as the legend goes? "You must focus on accepting the power of the tree. Can you feel it?"

"Mmm..." Gail's eyes drifted closed. She almost felt like something was trying to force itself into her. It was probing her mind as if asking for entrance. Relaxing, Gail felt herself open as if it was a flower. A warmth seemed to spread over her body. She felt feverish and she was sure that it was showing on her face because of the worried look on Eurydice's face.

"Rest," the silvery woman whispered. "The rest you will know when you awaken. I will be with you now, my child."

Gail felt her eyes drooping as if her "mother's" words had a power over her. She felt herself drifting into her dreams. Colours floated behind her eyelids, forming faces she didn't know and shapes she hadn't seen before in her life. Perhaps these were memories that her mother wanted her to have. A strange tune interrupted her dream, though she could not wake up. It was an infinitely sad song. Gail found herself crying, though she could not open her eyes.

"Wake up, little one," Fanin's voice called her from sleep as the song faded. When Gail opened her eyes, everything was blurry. Residual tears pooled in the corners of her eyes. Quickly, she rubbed her eyes and found herself on the ground, staring at the darkened canopy of the trees. She noticed just how dark it was in the forest. In the few minutes she had spent with the silver woman, half a day had passed. The moon, a sliver from being full, hung brightly in the sky.

"Well done," Fanin continued. He carefully helped Gail to her feet, though she shied away from keeping contact with the elder for too long out of respect. "The connection between yourself and this elder tree has been established. I am sure that your dreams will contain traces of power from this day forward. The extent of this, well... It is to be seen."

Gail nodded resolutely. Her stomach was empty and she was feeling restless. It was time for her to get back to the castle. Undoubtedly, she would get in trouble for being out of the dorms past curfew. It was highly probable that she would get scolded for being out so late without telling anyone.

"I think it's time for me to go," Gail started, hesitantly. Fanin seemed to agree with her.

"The forest is no place for man or beast tonight. Shall I have someone escort you out of the forest?" Fanin spoke with a hint of warmth in his dry voice.

"No, that's quite fine. I can get out of the forest faster by flying. Take care, Elder Fanin. I might not see you again for a while."

Fanin cast a long sigh before speaking, "it's highly unlikely you'll see us again. Just remember to tell your groundskeepers that we will not riot. We don't like fire so much, you see."

"Ah, will do." With that said, Gail forced her body into the form of a nightingale. As dark as it was in the forest, she could still see quite well as a bird. Nightingales were known to sing at night, as well as during the day. The rods in her eyes picked up the light of the stars quite well as the flittered above the trees. There were no strong winds to blow her off course, so she arrived at Kettleburn's hut within a few minutes.

Clumsily, Gail dropped to her feet and stumbled a little bit. It was hard to judge how high to fly when one was about to turn back into a human. Not minding her slightly twisted ankle, Gail jostled up to the hut and knocked on the door. She was greeted with a rather rambunctious barking. A deep voice grumbled something indistinguishable. That was either Hagrid or Kettleburn calming the dog down no doubt. After a few moments passed, the door swung open.

"Ah, there you are!" Kettleburn stood in the doorway. "Just when we thought the centaurs had run off with you. Glad to see you're well. What did they say?"

"They're not going to riot," Gail spoke quietly. She heard the faint buzz of someone heavily asleep. "They just want to act discontent to get the ministry to rethink about what they're doing and how unfair it is."

"I see. That all?" Kettleburn watched as Gail inclined her head. "Very well. Back up to the castle for you and straight to bed. If I hear that you wandered..."

"I won't wander. I'm sure I'll get an earful enough in the morning without the delay," Gail grinned sarcastically. Undoubtedly, either Remus or Lily would be upset. If Gail was really unlucky, both of them would be angry and not speaking to her. She shoved this thought out of her mind before bidding her professor a "good" night.

Gail settled on flying back to the castle. It wasn't so often that she would get the chance to fly at night without anyone noticing that she wasn't really a nightingale. At night, she could go wherever she wanted without anyone noticing. The immense freedom was possibly better than sliced bread.

In a second, Gail was flying through the cool night time air without a care. Luckily, she glanced down every now and then to make sure she was flying the right way, or else she would have missed the dark figure scurrying across the grassy field toward the forest. She dropped down quite a bit to see who was out so late. To her own surprise, it was Remus. Or, it looked like Remus. She dropped out of the air and landed as quietly as she could behind him before turning back into a human.

"Remus?" Gail asked quietly. He swung around and pulled out his wand. A brilliant light erupted from his wand and nearly blinded Gail.

"There you are," Remus sighed out of relief and lowered his wand so that he wasn't blinding Gail so much. She wasn't really expecting him to smile so tenderly. "You could have told me where you were going, you know."

"Were you worried?" Gail laughed nervously, scooting forward to take Remus' free hand. He tensed for a moment, as if he was unsure of whether or not physical contact was a good idea. He seemed to be contemplating something. The bridge between his eyebrows was tensed up: something that only occurred when he was quite worried about something. Gail realized that she hadn't really told Remus anything of what had happened with Lily.

"I decided to join the Order," Gail stated calmly, watched Remus turn to her stiffly. "I know you think very highly of Professor Dumbledore, and I don't want to fight about it... But just know that I've seen a different side of him and I didn't exactly like what I saw."

"Fair enough," Remus sighed leaning his left shoulder against her. "At least you have agreed to help us out. That's what really matters to me."

"Mmm... I'll help out where I can. You know how busy the nursery gets during the spring and summer."

"That's all any of us- er, the others can offer," Remus sighed miserably. Gail knew he was worried about securing a regular job. Not many places would hire him, since he was a werewolf. It was completely unfair that a brilliant guy like him wouldn't be able to become an Auror, Mediwizard or any other kind of profession. Even if he were to work at the nursery, there's a chance that he'd never be promoted the way Gail would.

"Yes, well I'm sure you'll be a big player in the Order, that's for sure," Gail smiled tensely at him without faltering. "You, Sirius and James, and maybe Lily too, will probably become the main resistance against Voldemort."

Remus simply returned her smile with a faded, worried look. He didn't really say anything, and they marched back up to the school in silence. It was almost unbearable when Gail finally decided to talk again.

"So you were looking for me?" Gail asked softly, sliding her hand out of Remus' and gently linking arms with him.

Remus groaned, "for a few hours or so. Lily seemed to think that you just wanted some time alone. I'm sorry if I interrupted that, but you know it's not a good idea to wander around by yourself."

"It's fine, Remus. I don't do a lot of wandering," Gail laughed dryly. "I do a lot of flying between places. It's quite a bit faster and I can get around undetected, but don't tell Sirius and James that! They might think it's neat and try to change their animagus form."

Remus laughed brilliantly, his face warm with relief, "I'm surprised that James wasn't a bird animagus. He enjoys flying more than anything else."

"But he likes flying on a broom. That's the difference. He wouldn't look as cool if he was a bird, right?" Gail snickered at the idea. If James was a bird animagus, he would have the most messy feathers on top of his head.

"Undoubtedly, he would think that he was the most "cool" of all of the birds," Remus chipped in. He was grinning uncharacteristically at the joke. Before he stopped. It looked like he had forgotten something.

"What is it?" Gail stopped beside him, doing her best not to stand so close to the suit of armor in the hall they were in. They had entered the school in one of the less used entrances. The downside was that there were more paintings and suits of armor there.

Remus smiled softly, pulling her by the arm so that she was face to face with him. In a jiffy, he was hunched over and giving Gail the snog of her life. It was only for a moment, though, because Remus obviously didn't want to get caught during the wee hours of the morning snogging a girl in the hallway. Who know how many detentions he would get for such a thing?

Meanwhile, Gail's face burned like a fire. Honestly, she had forgotten the niceties of being able to kiss Remus whenever she felt like it, after living with the three boys for a majority of the summer. It was almost like it was her first kiss again: a breath of fresh air, or something equally doddering.

"Ah, we'd better get going. _Mrs_. Norris will find us if we don't. Shall we take a short cut?" Remus asked pleasantly enough, though he turned away in the dark corridor.

"Sounds like a good idea," Gail agreed, finding herself yawning, even though she had a rather good 'sleep' in the forest. Remus casually pulled back one of the tapestries in the hall to reveal a crumbling, half-made tunnel in the wall.

"You can't be serious about this," Gail started, staring at a pile of rock that had fallen near the entrance. "It's hardly safe, is it?"

"It's fine," Remus laughed casually. "We use it all the time during full moons and we've never had problems."

"Hurgh," Gail groaned. She realized that Sirius and James were both quite tall. It was probably impossible to fit both of them under the invisibility cloak. Of course they would use secret tunnels to get around the castle faster and without being seen. While Gail was debating calling the boys on it, Remus had flourished his wand. Basked in the light of his own wand, Remus gestured that Gail enter the cubby first.

Grumbling to herself, Gail ducked in and scooted forward on her knees. The entrance was very dusty and it ticked her nose. Luckily, the tunnel slowly became bigger in size, as if the person who made it had taken the time to polish off all of it but the entrance. Remus was right behind her, with his wand lit and held high. Eventually, there was enough room for both Gail and Remus to walk normally. It was odd to walk through that "short cut," in any case. The pipes of the school made sounds around them, along with who-knows-what. Undoubtedly, there could have been ghosts or monsters lurking in the very tunnels the boys had claimed were "fine". One very loud grunt made Gail wonder if Dumbledore didn't secretly keep a heard of trolls in the school for a bit of extra protection.

"Relax, it's just the pipes adjusting to the temperature," Remus soothed, running a gentle hand over her shoulders. Gail hadn't realized how tense she was until he did that. Somehow, he was able to comfort her, though she wouldn't admit to the stray thoughts in her head.

"Right, just the pipes..." Gail grumbled under her breath. She kept an eye out, though, as they made their way through the winding tunnel. It eventually came out on the far side of the Fat Lady's portrait, behind the large painting of the giraffe. Luckily for Remus and Gail, it swung open before they could reach it. James was standing there, in his glory.

"There you two are. Get in quickly before you're caught," James spoke quietly, ushering his two friends back into the common room. "I was watching the map for you two. Close call. Mrs. Norris was on your tail just before you went into the Halfmade Tunnel."

Luckily for Gail and Remus, the common room was deserted except for Sirius, who was fast asleep on the couch. Peter had probably gone up to bed a while ago. This made Gail realize that James was being a _good_ guy by staying up to watch for them. Whether it was his own choice or not, he deserved something in return.

"Thanks for staying up, James," Gail smiled thoughtfully at the messy haired teen. He had become so much more mature over such a short time. He merely shrugged her thanks off before prodding Sirius.

"Whassamp?" Sirius snorted and attempted to roll over, but James didn't let him. Prodding the sleeping boy, James eventually got Sirius to sit up and look somewhat awake.

"C'mon, mate, it's time for bed," James grunted, pushing Sirius up towards the boys' dorms. "Remus is back, so let's go."

"Good night, Gail," Remus said quietly, offering her a parting kiss on her cheek. That made Gail decide that it was quite a good nigh- well, technically it was morning. Gail slunk up the stairs and into the girls' dorms. Without a second thought, she fell asleep in her four post bed while wearing her uniform.

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**Author Note:**

Haha! This chapter is finished! Freedom surely must be better than sliced bread. I'm not sure what else to say- other than there was a serious lack of romance in the previous chapters. Something that's been partially remedied? Perhaps.

I'm so happy to be able to write some common ground between James and Lily. Aw~

Okay, back to Rockband [2]! I'm gonna sing your ears off! Or maybe not. Hello there, ladies and gentlemen. Hello there, ladies and gents...

_-Rue_

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**LaurenB16**: Yes, things really are getting serious. I can't tell you how excited I am to start writing some life-or-death duels between the Order and the Death Eaters. But you've given me a really good idea. Hmm! Yes, that should work! Mmm... MMMM! Eureka! ... Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Apocolips**: Yes, it was a little bit shorter than the other chapters, but that was where I wanted to end the chapter. I wanted to leave off in the appropriate spot so that this chapter would be less confusing. Phew. I hope you have a good new years, too. I can't believe I've been writing this story for approximately five months already. Wow! I didn't know I had that kind of willpower. Haha! I deserve a cookie.


	64. Chapter 64

**Chapter 64**

"Aha! I got approval!" Avalon gloated, flourishing a piece of parchment above her head in victory.

"Approval for what?" Jo grinned and easily snatched the paper away. She was a good foot taller than the blonde, so she had no trouble reaching it. Jo scanned the parchment for a moment before tossing it back to Avalon. "So you've decided to request that the Hogwarts Duelling Club be reformed?"

Lily's bright eyes were filled with interest as she peeked over the top of her thick History of Magic textbook. She didn't say a word, but she was listening avidly. Gail decided not to interrupt, either. She was "busy" scanning her new Care of Magical Creatures book.

"The Duelling Club has been closed for the past five years because of the students' low amount of interest," Avalon stated wisely. "But with how things are right now, I think we could all use a place to practice defensive spells, as well as hexes and other spells. Besides, it'll be a good place for Dumbledore to recruit talented students from."

Gail snorted under her breath, causing the other three girls to stare at her with expectant looks. She had no choice but to explain herself, "really- you think Dumbledore doesn't already know who he needs to recruit? I think he's know since our first year. But anyway, it's a great idea to train the others so that they don't become victims, even if they don't join the Order."

Lily nodded in agreement, "we'll help you out, Avalon! If you need anything, just ask."

"Great," Avalon smiled thoughtfully. Her smile was pure and clean, unlike the fake smiles that her friend, Jo, would normally give. "We'll have meetings on Sunday evenings, I think. I got permission to use the great hall. It looks like a few of the Professors will be helping out, too. Slughorn, McGonagall, and Flitwick, at least. It should be interesting."

"That sounds find," Jo commented. "Quidditch practice is usually on weekdays. The Slytherins usually book the pitch on Sunday, anyway."

"No big shame there. Doubt any Slytherins would join a club run by a bunch of Griffindors," Gail joked. "One lone snake in a den of lions doesn't last long, right?"

"That's true!" Lily laughed joyfully, causing the others to join in. It had been quite a while since the girls had been at peace enough to joke around in such a manner. With Melanie gone, the burden of watching over their property was gone.

Avalon was busy pulling out a piece of parchment. With a quick enlargement charm, the parchment was soon covering a good chunk of the floor in the girl's dorms. Avalon went to work designing and creating a poster for her 'new' club. The hardworking girl didn't rest until the poster was a colourful depiction of the school's emblem with huge letters describing the Duelling club.

Jo whistled sharply to signify how impressed she was with Avalon's handiwork. Undoubtedly, it would have been more attractive if Lily had done it, but Avalon's hard work was nothing to sneeze at. Gail really doubted she would have been able to do the same.

"How cute! The badger is winking. Aw~" Lily cooed, intently watching the poster. "Oh, and the lion! How fierce."

"I just need to hang it outside of the Great Hall tomorrow morning," Avalon stated. She looked quite pleased with her own handiwork.

"Why don't we go hang it up tonight?" Gail suggested, lifting herself up off of the edge of her bed. "We have about forty minutes before our curfew."

"I guess that would be better," Avalon agreed. "Besides, we might see some handsome guys down in the common room."

"Bleck," Jo groaned, rolling her eyes. She didn't say a word about how much she came to regret ever getting involved with Sirius. She seemed to have taken an interest in the some of the boys in the other houses now, though. There were some pretty handsome sixth years in Ravenclaw.

"Fine, you don't get to come," Avalon stated coldly. "Come on Lily, Gail. I'll need both of you to help."

"Right," Lily agreed, tossing a sympathetic look to Jo. She was doing quite well to pretend she wasn't excited at all about talking with James.

"We'll bring you something handsome back!" Gail teased, waving at Jo as she stood at the door of their dorm.

"Don't bother!" Jo hollered with a grin on her face. She seemed a little more cheerful than before. Perhaps things in her life were going better for her.

Avalon wasn't lying when she said that there were handsome boys in the common room. Sirius, James, Remus and Peter took up the most prominent couches in the common room. It was obvious that they were ignoring the fawning looks they were getting from the younger Griffindors, who were sitting on the benches by the windows.

"Good evening, Evans," James spoke loudly, taking the collective attention of the common room. Of course, his curious gaze was mostly directed at the large parchment that Avalon was holding carefully.

"What's that?" Sirius asked, pointing over at Avalon. His question wasn't really directed at anyone, but he looked like he expected Lily or Gail to answer.

"It's the poster I made for the reopening of the Duelling Club," Avalon stated with a weathered smile. Sirius straightened like a dog catching the scent of a rabbit.

"Interesting. Going to hang it up, I guess. Need a hand?" James casually hovered over to the girls with a heart quivering smile on his face. Of course, where there was a smell, there was a boy. The other three boys got up, as well. Gail was quite happy for the arrangement, anyway, to be able to spend some time with Remus.

"Fine," Avalon smiled casually, examining Sirius. He returned a rather handsome, arrogant smile. For a moment, there seemed to be something going on between the two teenagers. Gail couldn't help but sigh in exasperation. Four months! Sirius Black could only keep himself interested in a girl for the period of four months. After living with Gail for a period, he was completely uninterested in her and had taken up ogling other girls. At least she was finally free of his lurid gaze.

"Good evening," Remus greeted her sweetly as they were stepping out of the fat lady's portrait. He had been patiently listening to James' discussion with Avalon and waiting to give her a kiss or two when no one was looking. "Fancy meeting you here."

"I should say!" Gail exclaimed, smiling brightly up at her werewolf, deciding to play along with him. "I never thought I would see you again, my dear Remus! I had thought the fates separated us for the rest of eternity."

"I hope not," Remus muttered, pressing a quick kiss below her ear. "I don't think I could go an eternity without you."

"Oh my! How sweet," Gail joked, allowing Remus to press another kiss to her lips.

"Enough, you two!" Lily pushed them apart roughly, fuming at their antics. "Honestly, you two spent practically the whole summer together and you decide to act like a pair of gits now?"

"They aren't acting," Sirius chided, causing both Lily and Avalon to laugh. Remus just snorted and looked over at Gail before mouthing 'jealous'. She couldn't agree more.

"Lighten up, folks! After all, it's _almost_ Christmas," James pointed out. "Well... in three months, or so, and Christmas _is_ the time for lovers. Anyway, Moony and Gail were bound to act like love-struck fools, eventually."

"Takes one to know one!" Gail retorted, elbowing James a little more forcefully than she meant to. Smartly, she looped her way around Lily and joined Remus on the other side. The redhead seemed in a better mood after hearing her friends bicker a little bit.

"Enough, all of you. Give me a hand to stick this poster up, already," Avalon commanded, causing the lively aura to dampen slightly, until Sirius decided to open his mouth in sarcasm.

"Easy, woman. Don't need to throw a fit. _Wingardium Leviosa_."

One corner of the poster drifted out of Avalon's hand. James used the same spell, non-verbally, in order to pluck the other corner out of Avalon's hand. Together, the two boys floated the poster above the doorway. Instead of using a normal sticking charm, Lily decided to use spell-sticking charm to prevent the floating charm from leaving the poster for a few days. The Poster hung above the doorway, a few inches away from the wall.

"Splendid. Thank you," Avalon beamed at the poster for a few minutes before turning hopefully to Sirius and James. "Can I expect you guys to join the club?"

"Being able to hex others with no repercussions?" Sirius grinned wickedly for a moment before inclining his head. "Of course."

Both Remus and James agreed, as well. Peter was a little bit more hesitant.

"I-I d-don't know... I-I'm not v-very good at d-duelling," Peter stuttered, his eyes glued on his shoes.

"Come on, Peter. How long have you been hanging around with us?" Sirius asked belligerently. "You should be able to use some easy hexes, right?"

James laughed, tossing an arm around Peter, "don't worry, Wormtail! We'll find you some first years to duel!"

Lily stared wide-eyed at the poor, plump boy and the more she stared at him, the more embarrassed he looked. When the redhead finally spoke, Peter looked up at her with his watery eyes.

"I'm sure you aren't that bad, Peter," Lily soothed, placing her hand tenderly on the boy's shoulder. "Even if you're not confident about duelling, I'm sure practising will help you gain some confidence."

"Highly unlikely," Sirius chided. "Peter can be thicker than a brick sometimes. Oye, remember that question on the Defence Against Dark Arts OWL?"

James snorted in laughter, "that was great."

Lily looked like she wanted to scold James for being insensitive to his own friend, but she surprisingly kept her thoughts to herself. The boys were wise enough to drop the conversation after seeing the smouldering flame in Lily's emerald eyes. The three chatted about random things, occasionally including Avalon or Peter. For the most part, Gail and Remus trailed behind the others on the way back to the Griffindor common room.

"Look at that," Remus pointed at Avalon and Sirius, who were chatting avidly with one another. "How long do you think it'll last?"

"Remus Lupin! You're horrible," Gail exclaimed, doing her best to keep her voice down, too. "They aren't even dating yet, and you're suggesting that they're going to break up."

All he could do was shrug and chuckle before commenting, "no, I was wondering how long it would take him to ask her out- or vice versa."

Gail's face burned scarlet. She had assumed the worst when Remus was really just being curious. If she could have stuck her fist in her mouth, she would have. Even her ears felt hot, and there was nothing she could do about it. Remus, noticing this, broke into laughter. Annoyed by his cheerful mocking, Gail cleared her throat.

"Well we can always hope, can't we?" Gail fumed, speeding up so that she could walk with Lily and James. The two of them seemed to be having an awkward conversation. Neither was making eye contact.

"What's the matter, Lily?" Gail asked cooly, intruding on her friend's personal space by stepping close and putting an arm around the redhead's shoulders. "Is mean, old Potty-Head being a git again?"

"No!" Both Lily and James spoke at the same time.

"Oh?" Gail snickered, eyeing James as if she was a cat who had won a fight over a big, juicy fish. "But you don't deny that he _is_ a Potty-Head."

"Gail!" Lily grumbled, swatting her friend away. Her face was almost the same shade as her hair and she persisted to laugh nervously. It was obvious that she didn't want James to know about the horrible nicknames they'd invented for him years ago. Of course, James was utterly intrigued by the fact that Lily had been interested in him at all.

It took Gail a while to stop laughing, but when she did, Lily had already run through the portrait and up to the girls' dorms. Going to follow her friend, Gail found herself tangled up in a pile of long arms.

"Good night, Remus," Gail muttered darkly, still quite embarrassed by the fact that she had been quite mean to him.

"See you tomorrow," Remus said calmly, oblivious to the fact that Gail was blushing more than normal.

* * *

"GAIL! I can't believe you said that!" Lily hollered when Gail came through the door to their dormitory. Lily was in the midst of expressing her anger towards her friend. The other two girls watched on in amusement. "He thinks I talk about him now! What'll I do if he thinks I spend my time making fun of him?"

"What'll you do if he thinks you don't?" Gail responded gingerly as she changed into her pyjamas. "If you ask me, it's a good thing that he knows exactly what you think- er, thought of him."

"I- no! That's not right," Lily scoffed at Gail for a moment, turning her head away. "Potter doesn't... need to know that. Honestly."

Both Jo and Avalon were snickering at Lily's inability to express her feelings for James. Of course, both of them had known for a long time that the redhead had a soft spot for the messy haired youth. Even in their first few years of school, Lily was decent towards the boy, with the exception of when he got on her nerves. After all, it was common knowledge that James was no where near as bad as the Slytherins. No matter what he did, he didn't have a cruel bone in his body and he wasn't attracted to the dark arts.

"Really, Lily!" Jo exclaimed wildly. "Get over it and ask him out. It'll be Christmas before long, you know, and that's the best time to snuggle with a handsome fellow."

"Speaking of handsome," Avalon grinned and turned to her dark haired friend. "Are you interested in, oh... What was his name?"

"Nope, not at all," Jo grinned mechanically, faltering for a second. "Not interested in the least."

"Right, right," Avalon frowned at her. "You're the worst liar ever... Even so, if you're ever interested, I could set you up."

Jo grunted in response and rolled over in her bed, signifying that she wasn't going to talk about it any longer.

* * *

James grinned up at the ceiling of the boys' dorms for a while, remembering how cute Lily was when she was embarrassed. She thought about him! She _talked_ about him! If James was outside, he was sure that he would be able to walk across the top of the lake or swim through the air. If Gail knew one thing about him that was correct, it was that he was extremely content with this information. From the sound of it, Lily talked about him frequently, even if it wasn't anything good.

"Shut up and go to sleep," Sirius grumbled, though James hadn't said anything. Even in the darkness of the room, Sirius knew that James was gloating with a smile of victory. Lily had all but admitted to liking him.

"Can't sleep now!" James declared, sitting up and dangling his feet over the edge of the bed. Sirius grunted and peered his dark head over the edge of his bed.

"Sleep," Sirius groaned loudly, drowning out the sound of Peter's obnoxious snoring.

"He can't help it," Remus joined in the conversation tiredly. "Prongs has girls on the brain."

"Girls... Who needs them," Sirius rolled over and promptly fell asleep.

"Moony, help me out here!" James declared, standing unsteadily on his feet and wandering across the room. "So far, your advice has worked, but how can I ask Evans out without annoying her?"

"Get her some flowers or chocolates and ask nicely," Remus mumbled into his pillow. "Act humbly and don't take her attention for granted."

"Humble, hmm?" James scratched his chin thoughtfully. "That sounds good. Hmm..."

Without a second thought, James tossed the lid of his trunk open and extracted his invisibility cloak. He would make a quick trip to the owlery in order request some of Honeydukes' finest chocolate. Of course, James would be able to conjure some flowers for Lily, if she accepted. A brilliant plan unfolded before him. Victory was in reach.

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**Author Note:**

Short chapter, yes I know. Sorry about that. Anyway, I have some news for you guys. As you can tell, I didn't get as much of the story finished as I had hoped to over my break. I'm going to do my best to update at least once a week now that I'm back at school, but this means that the chapters are going to be twice as long as usual. We'll see how this works.

-_Rue_

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**LaurenB16**: Yes, you inspired this chapter. My muse- Mine!! Sirius has always been a bit of an arse. I don't think anyone notices, at least in the books, because of Harry's hero-worshipping of anyone that knew his father... Erm, where was I? Oh yes! I've seen a lot of people depict Sirius as cheerful and funny, but he's really not. If you look at Snape's memory, Sirius is a sulky boy who gets his kicks from hexing people.

**Apocolips**: Oh! If they're small cookies, I can have more than one right? Ah, let's hope to keep the "good chapters" rolling.

**Wolfy Pup**: Oh oh! A new reviewer! Thank you! Thank you for the positive energy you gave me! I'm really glad you're understanding the story. It's one of my worries that I'll write something that's completely out "there" and no one will get it. Anyway, I hope to hear from you again.


	65. Chapter 65

**Chapter 65**

Streams of students flitted into the Great Hall, admiring the change of decoration in the hall. The four house tables had been replaced with three, solid wooden stages. Each stage had the emblem that Avalon had designed for the Dueling Club emblazoned on the side. What appeared to be black velvet adorned the top of each stage, either to provide traction when enhanced with charms or make the fight more interesting.

Within minutes of the time Avalon had set for the Duelling Club's first meeting, a large number of students had pooled into the hall. A majority of the students were in their third year, looking to improve their skills before their fourth year and their OWLs. There seemed to be a good amount of all four houses, since the heads had taken to endorsing the club. A larger number of Slytherins showed up, likely due to Slughorn's influence. The jolly, old walrus was looking quite pleased with himself as he looked down at his collection of smirking students. It was a good thing that Avalon was one of the fairest students at Hogwarts. The rules of the club were as follows: all students are required to get the permission of the head of house to join the club, members must not practice spells outside of the club, and duels are to be carried out with only non-hazardous spells.

It took a moment for the gathering to calm down. The room fell in utter silence when Avalon jumped up onto the middle stage with her wand to her own throat, "hello everyone. For those of you that don't know me, I'm Avalon Clack and I would like to welcome all of you to the first meeting of the Hogwarts Duelling club. First of all, I'm sure you would like to see what this club will be all about, so we'll start with a friendly match between two seventh year students in order to show off the skills of some of the senior members of this club.

"Let's see," Avalon continued. Her eyes studied the crowd of students in front of her before falling to Gail and the student next to her. "You two, come up here."

Gail knew she should have stood farther back in the room. Why did Avalon have to choose her, of all people, to duel Kathryn Bodeur? Kathryn was a feminine person and was one of the Ravenclaws that had continued taking Care of Magical Creatures after their OWLs. For a Ravenclaw, she was one of the most unintelligent people Gail knew. Perhaps she did better in classes like History of Magic, where she wasn't expected to know anything practical.

Worst of all, Gail had to duel her. Honestly, one wrong spell and the girl would probably drop like a fly and that wouldn't be very fair at all.

"Gail Forester and Kathryn Bodeur; both of you come up here, please," Avalon repeated, tapping her foot impatiently. Gail had time to catch Kathryn's stare in her own apologetic look as they were ushered up onto the stage by a pair of familiar hands. Avalon bumped her fellow Griffindor to one side of the stage and gestured that Kathryn take the other side. When both girls were set, Avalon looked quite relieved.

"Both of you bow and then put your wands up," Avalon commanded, watching them follow her instructions. "Now, duel!"

With that, Avalon hopped off the stage and into the crowd, where she stood with Jo and some rather handsome Ravenclaw boy. Gail was left feeling rather stupid as she stared across the stage at Kathryn, who was looking utterly bored. She willed the Ravenclaw to make the first move.

"_Petrificus totalus_," Kathryn flourished her wand a little bit too much for the hex and took a few seconds too long to pronounce the spell. Gail was ready with a simple shielding charm. Her shield took the brunt of the force and would not have stood in the wake of a more powerful spell. Gail's plan wouldn't have worked if the Ravenclaw has used a non-verbal spell. While Kathryn was surprised by how ineffective her spell was, Gail took the chance to strike.

"_Expelliarmus_," Gail casually jabbed her wand at Kathryn, blowing the girl backwards slightly and flinging her wand into the crowd. The Ravenclaw stumbled over her own feet and landed on her bottom, looking quite shocked. Avalon was back up onto the stage in a flash.

"The winner of our first duel is Gail Forester. Congratulations, Gail," Avalon called to the crowd. There was some mild applause for Gail, who had gone easy on her opponent.

"That's not a duel, that's a tea party," a voice heckled from the crowd. Avalon turned her head and glared over Gail's shoulder.

"Fine, Potter," Avalon half-growled. "Get up here and show us what a 'real' duel looks like."

"My pleasure," James drawled, strolling up to the central stage. He offered Gail a hand down, as any gentleman would, before patting her shoulder. Perhaps that was his way of applauding her, or something. Without giving Gail a second look, he jumped up onto the stage. Kathryn wasn't as idiotic as Gail thought: she evacuated the area quickly.

Gail soon found that Sirius cleared an area for himself by the stage, so that he could watch the duel. There was a large, boyish grin on his face. Undoubtedly, he was excited to watch his mate whomp someone else, or maybe to jump in if it looked like James was going to lose. Eventually, Peter and Remus joined Gail and Sirius. For some reason, the crowd seemed almost enthused that James would be duelling. Excitement sparked in the crowd.

"Okay, is there anyone brave enough to accept this challenge?" Avalon inquired, looking around the hall. James grinned wildly, "None of you?"

The group of Slytherins by Slughorn shifted. Surprisingly, Severus Snape glided out of the grouping as if he was the incarnation of Dracula. Gail was surprised that the guy hadn't run off to join the Death Eaters. The sinister boy rolled himself up onto the stage, ignoring the cat-calls from all of the other students. James' grin dropped off and it was easy to see that he was grinding his teeth together to keep from saying anything overly rude when he knew Lily was in the same area.

There were cheers from the Slytherins for Snape, and calls of 'Snivellus' and other mean names from almost all of the other, older students. Above all the other calls was Sirius' voice, though. He was laughing like a nutter.

"Well, it looks like Severus Snape has decided to take up the fight," Avalon grumbled. "Fair fight. Stick to the rules. No dark arts."

Snape shrugged at Avalon's offhand comment, pulling out his own wand. As Avalon continued to tell the two boys the rules, both boys bowed, rather stiffly, before raising their wands. Again, Avalon jumped off the stage in order to leave room for the duel.

A sneer appeared on Snape's face, contorting his usually calm demeanour into something that Gail couldn't even comprehend. The greasy boy said something quietly to James, mocking him and was surprised when James didn't become angry. Instead, with a cool head, the Griffindor launched a series of spells at Snape. Most of James' spells didn't have any effect, visibly.

"Look at that," Remus said quietly to Gail. "Prongs got impedimenta off on Snape, who probably didn't realize what spell James was using. He's moving slower now."

Of course, Snape wasn't one to take anything without trying to get some form of revenge. The boy hit James squarely in the face with a spell that Gail didn't even know, causing blood to pour down James' face as if his nose had been broken. The Slytherins laughed and jeered loudly, but James merely hocked a crimson lob. A blob of blood flew towards Snape and landed on the black velvet stage covering. If one thing could make Snape look happy, it was James' suffering.

If one thing could make James mad, it was Snape's gleeful face. From what Gail could see, her friend was hardly reigning in his temper and for good reason. McGonagall was a second away from calling the duel because of the spell Snape used. Neither boy moved an inch, though. When the duel wasn't called, James worked frantically by tossing spell after spell at his opponent. Spells rolled over their heads and some of the students had to duck to get out of the way of stray spells. Some of the younger students stared, wide-eyed and awestruck.

"_Stupefy_," James finally bellowed at the most opportune moment, when Snape was busy trying to block one of James' other spells. A red stinger shot into Snape's chest, knocking the slimy, black haired boy out. Avalon jumped back onto the stage and grabbed James' arm, declaring him the winner to one of the most intense duels Gail had ever seen. After losing a lot of blood, it was a wonder that James was still standing.

Both boys were ushered off to the Hospital Wing by McGonagall before the crowded Great Hall could burst with excitement. It took Avalon a while to get everyone settled back down. She eventually called three pairs of younger students up, placing one pair on each stage. They were to practice duelling with one another, while the others students were supposed to be studying the duelling technique... But it all went downhill. The students just wanted to talk about how inspiring James' victory was. Avalon finally called the meeting and instructed the others to research and practice spells and the theory of duelling.

* * *

James awoke in the Hospital Wing, unaware of how much time had passed. Pomfrey was hovering over him, attempting to get him to drink a bottle of some liquid or another. James was lousy at Potions, but he assumed it was a blood replenishing potion to replace what he had lost from having his nose broken by Snivellus... But his nose didn't hurt anymore.

Pomfrey truly was one of the best mediwitches. It was a good thing that the woman had repaired his nose. He shouldn't have liked to look like another flat-faced Slytherin gorilla. Undoubtedly, a broken nose wouldn't attract Lily, or any other girl for that matter.

Pomfrey soon went to check on Snivellus, who was still quite limp, perhaps he was sleeping. Ennervate could only do so much when stunning had been used with enough gusto. James scurried out of there as soon as his captor had her back turned to him. It wasn't like he needed any additional restoration, anyway.

Lo and behold, not five steps out of the miserably sanitized place, James almost walked straight into Lily. The redhead was looking quite worried and was suggestively biting at her bottom lip.

"Potter, what are you doing out of bed? You should be resting," Lily scolded firmly, motioning as if she was thinking about sending him back in. She obviously didn't understand that he was feeling nauseous because of the smells in the Hospital wing. It reminded him of the first time he'd been knocked off his broom by a bludger.

"Thanks for worrying about me, but I would prefer to _rest_ in my own bed," James nodded at Lily sullenly, walking away from the Hospital wing as fast as he could. It took him a while, but he soon found that the redhead was following him.

"Potter, you really shouldn't be moving around..." Lily called when he slowed down. Her tone was full of anxiety. It was kind of sweet, the fact that she was showing such worry for him.

"I'm fine," James did his best to make his voice sound soothing and mellow. He was facing her and the faint worry lines on her face made his stomach jump. "Pomfrey gave me a potion and I'm already feeling a lot better. See? She even fixed my nose."

Lily's face softened with his words, but she took a step closer to examine his nose for any damage or perhaps to see if he really was lying. She finally sighed before talking, "yes, well. It certainly looks like she patched you up enough... Considering what you looked like before."

"Hey!" James yelped in indignation. "My nose was handsome before!"

"Right," Lily smiled as if she had the upper hand in their heated conversation. She was still standing really close to James, staring up at him through her long eyelashes. It was something he'd never been close enough to her to see before, but the features of her face were a hundred times more impressive up close. The bottom of his stomach almost dropped out.

That was, until Lily tilted her head upwards and took another step. At that point, all of his intestines felt like dropping too. He was far more nervous than any other time in his life, all because of one red haired vixen.

Warmth brushed against James' bottom lip, returning his thoughts to the present. He was standing within arms length was the true object of his affections. And there she was, staring at him and curiously waiting for his response. The least he could do was pull her into a hug. Lily seemed happy at this as she wrapped her arms around his waist. They were silent for a moment before James found his voice.

"So this means we're dating?" James asked softly, smiling into the top of Lily's hair. Traces of her shampoo lingered, smelling like fragile flowers laced with something soft and inviting.

"I guess it does," Lily confirmed, not looking up at him. The tops of her ears were fiery red. James knew he had to change the topic and make her feel comfortable again.

"So... When did you realize you were in _love_ with me?" James asked in a sing-song voice, smiling brightly. Lily stared coldly up at him, but he still continued to make himself look like a git and help her feel less embarrassed. "Was it because I am _so_ good at duelling?"

Lily laughed shortly. It was amazing how quickly her temperament could change. "I wouldn't say 'good,' considering Snape hit you with such a spell..."

James couldn't help but chuckle at her words. It was as if she was still reluctant to express her feelings.

"I'm hurt," James pouted childishly. "You don't have any faith in my exceptional abilities, do you?"

"I wouldn't call_ landing on your head after falling off your broom_ an ability, Potter," Lily spoke sharply, but there was still a glow of playfulness in her eyes. "Or getting your nose blown up, either."

"Hey now! Be fair. He broke my nose, he didn't blow it up," James reprimanded her evenly, a cheeky grin on his face. His companion rolled her pretty eyes pointedly, muttering something he couldn't quite make out. "Pardon? I didn't quite catch that."

"I said: _it doesn't make a difference, you still ended up in the hospital wing_. Maybe the spell affected your hearing, too," Lily joked, only meaning the joke in a half-hearted way.

"I do spend a lot of time there," James conceded, pondering the idea for a moment. "But not nearly as much time as Gail does. Honestly, I think she goes there at least twice a month- for fun!"

"She has a reason, doesn't she?" Lily laughed peacefully, though James was suspicious of what she meant. Did she know that Remus was a werewolf and Gail usually went to spend time with him in the hospital wing?

"Hmmm?" James did his best to keep his voice steady and show no worry in his demeanour. Gail would get _it_ if she had told Lily anything.

"Well, she's naturally very clumsy, you know," Lily explained. "So she usually visits the hospital wing after having small accidents. Last year, I think she sprained her ankle at least twice."

James breathed again. It was obvious that Gail made up some inane excuses to visit the Hospital wing, which was pretty clever of her. It effectively drew everyone's attention away from Remus' absences. The girl was full of clever ideas, not that James was keeping track or anything.

"Ah, yeah. She really can be slow sometimes," James laughed nervously. "It's a good thing Remus looks after her..."

* * *

"No, not that way Padfoot. It twists in the other direction."

Gail was reclined in the soft couch in the Griffindor common room, watching Remus instruct his friend on how to do the puzzle properly. Apparently, Remus had received a metal puzzle as a gift at some point and the whole trick was to move one of the apparatuses until it came off of the puzzle. Sirius had been toying with it for a little bit over an hour before getting annoyed. He had been about to break it until Remus stepped in.

"Stupid thing," Sirius grunted, thrusting the whole thing into Remus' arms. Shrilly, Peter laughed at his own friend's annoyed behaviour. Sirius had reverted to being somewhat sulky after the club meeting. He was probably mad that James had been swept off to the Hospital Wing, not that he could do anything.

"Here, I'll show you how it works," Remus soothed, slowly moving the metallic piece until it came off. Peter gaped in awe, but was largely ignored. Easily, Remus stuck the key part back onto the puzzle and handed it back to Sirius to try again.

"Lily is late," Gail informed them, once Sirius had started to mimic his friend's movements with the puzzle in his mitts. "Do you think she found some trouble on the way to the Hospital Wing?"

"Unlikely," Sirius grunted, again trying to force the piece in a direction it was obviously not supposed to go. "Anyone who found her probably received some trouble, though. That's for sure. You haven't seen anything until you've seen her immobilize a troll."

"You sound impressed, Padfoot," Remus reminded him cautiously, causing Sirius' brow to furrow in frustration. He was obviously fighting against the loss of his best mate to the female species and finding that Lily wasn't such a horrible person. He merely grunted in response, refusing to admit anything to anyone, including himself. His hands fiddled with the metallic puzzle for a while longer.

Peter was snickering to himself, for some reason. Gail took a moment to study the harried boy. He looked quite stricken and almost as peaky as Remus. There were signs of shadows under his eyes. Obviously, he hadn't been sleeping as well as usual. Something was wrong with him, but Gail wasn't sure it was her place to say anything. Perhaps he was just starting to feel the problems caused by the tremulous outside world.

"Alright, Peter?" Gail asked slowly, watching Peter's watery eyes jitter around like black beetles until they came to rest on her. He nodded sullenly, not meeting her gaze for more than millisecond. Perhaps he was being bashful, but Gail had a feeling that the boy was deliberately hiding something.

The portrait hole swung open before Gail could speak again. The redhead fell down through the rabbit hole. Lily's face was crimson with embarrassment as she strode in with James' hand in her own. They seemed quite taken with one another, almost in a daze.

"Aw, look at you two: all sweet on each other," Gail grinned over the back of the couch at them, not surprised by their bashful smiles. Their golden aura was only hampered by the pair's embarrassment.

Sirius leapt up from his place and moved quickly to sling an arm around both Griffindor's shoulders. If it was surprising that Lily didn't shrug him off, then it was utterly odd that Sirius had a huge, almost comically cheesy smile planted on his face.

"Well done, mate! Glad to see she came around," Sirius barked cheerfully. Gail had honestly never seen him so jovial in the years that she had known it. It was easy to see that he was truly happy for his friend and had flung away any misgivings after seeing how happy James was.

There were several hollers in the common room, supporting the new couple. It was widely known that James was chasing Lily, but one would think that he was a rock star of some sort after witnessing the extent that the other Griffindors supported him. In the noise, Gail hadn't notice Remus sneaking up on her. His warm hand pressed against her neck, his arm slinking around her. His smile was warm and peaceful.

"Congratulations, Prongs," it was one of the few times in which Remus agreed with Sirius.

"Yeah, Prongs!" Peter cheered, joining in the group excitedly. He didn't move from his chair, even if he was smiling with his friends. James laughed, wrapping an arm around Lily after giving her a questioning look. After finding that she was fine with it, he pulled her down next to Gail and Remus.

"Great, now Sirius just has to ask Avalon out," Gail said quietly to Remus, who just nodded and continued smiling knowingly. "And we'll finally have some time to ourselves."

"Doubt it," Remus murmured. "They'll want to go on group dates, I bet."

"Well, I'm certainly not going to let them have my dates," Gail stated bluntly, turning her head away. She was only half joking about this. There was no way she would allow James and Sirius to dictate any of her dates with Remus, because they happened once in a blue moon.

"Oh my, it looks like I've missed something huge," Avalon exclaimed, climbing through the portrait hole gracefully. Jo trailed along behind her, looking quite exhausted. The brunette had been running around to help James get more people to try out for Griffindor's Quidditch team. Very few people seemed interested, though, since James was intimidating to those that didn't know him very well. He took the sport quite seriously.

"You two are late!" Gail teased. "Lily's sense of reasoning has flown through the window."

Jo laughed peacefully; sinking into the armchair on Gail's other side. She didn't say a word, but it was common knowledge that she had been asked out several times over the last few days. Whether it was because she had hitched her skirt up an inch or two higher, or what... But she exuded delicately feminine qualities.

While Gail was pondering her mysterious friend, Remus had deftly snatched her hand and was running his thumb along her palm. He was smiling sadly down at her hand. For a moment, he looked on the brink of crying, but perhaps that was just her imagination. Out of the corner of her eye, Gail spotted a rather meek girl sneaking forward. Her soft brown hair was held back by a headband. By her size, she was a second year at most. Her sky blue eyes were focused on Sirius hungrily: Gail was wrong in assuming the girl was shy.

"Excuse me," the girl's voice caused a lag in the conversation in the close-knit group. All eyes were on the girl that Gail has decided to nickname Alice. The girl certainly was following a little, _black_ rabbit, but would he follow her down the rabbit hole?

"Can we help you?" James asked calmly, not even bothering to tear his eyes away from Lily's sweet face.

"I'd like to talk with Black- Sirius," the girl said sharply. "It'll only take a moment."

"Sure, if that's what you want," Sirius chirped, still quite ecstatic over his friend's victory. He was grinning like he had won the lottery as he stood up and followed the delicate child to the more private side of the common room. They stood by the window for a while and spoke quietly. Gail couldn't quite hear what was being said, but little Alice was obviously asking him out very forwardly. _Alice_ stalked off after a grim moment.

"What was that?" Jo asked calmly. "You couldn't turn her down nicely?"

Sirius just shrugged and sunk back into the seat next to Avalon. It was surprising how many people could sit on the same couch. Gail was quite glad that Amber and Melanie weren't around, or no one would be sitting comfortably.

"He's not into dating girls that are five years younger than him," Remus reminded them softly. "I think he has someone else on his mind."

Remus promptly stopped speaking upon reading the look that slid across Sirius' face. As a joke, it wasn't funny, but Avalon and Lily were fully interested in the topic.

"Who is _Padfoot_ interested in?" Lily asked with a laugh. She was obviously mimicking the boys' silly nicknames.

"None of your bloody business," Sirius huffed, turning his head away to survey the wall opposite from them. He muttered something under his breath, frowning impatiently.

Lily looked offended for half a second, but she quickly turned back to James, who had simply laughed at Sirius' obstinacy. Of course Lily wouldn't have known that it was no good to pry him for information, because he would simply become belligerent. It was better to coax him with bits of food, preferably bacon. Gail stated this to the group, earning herself a glare and what sounded like a growl from Sirius.

"Enough. I'm going to bed," with that, Sirius stormed up the stairs. The door to the boys' dorm slammed loudly, echoing back down the stairs and making several younger students jump because of the unexpectedly loud noise.

"You shouldn't tease him like that," Remus chastised her darkly. "He's going to be pouting for a while."

"He deserved it for snapping at Lily," Gail retorted, folding her arms across her chest. "If he's going to be miserable, then he deserves no pity."

"Now Gail-..." Remus started, but James cut across him loudly.

"It's fine, Moony. Padfoot has grown up enough to know that mild teasing is a sign of affection." James stretched momentarily before getting to his feet. "Good night, Lily. I'll see you tomorrow."

With that, James made his way up the stairs, after his friend. Remus got up, as well, after giving Gail a quick peck on the chin. He smiled thoughtfully and murmured something about rubbing Sirius' ego before leaving. Peter, getting the hint, trailed along after his friends.

* * *

In dismay, James stared down at the letter his father had sent him. Apparently, Mr. Potter was still working with the Order and Dumbledore, so James' father forbade him from leaving the school. Across from the breakfast table, Sirius and Remus sat together staring down at the same newspaper. The general worried look on their faces caught James' attention.

"What's going on?" James asked, leaning across his breakfast with his father's letter crumpled into a ball in his fist. His appetite was completely gone.

"Two more people have gone missing," Sirius stated bluntly. "And they've found a bunch more muggles- tortured to death with the mark hanging above their heads."

The news struck at James like an ice-pick. If only he was able to help out, but they had a little less than six months until graduation. He gritted his teeth to keep from saying anything obscene. Just how could the Death Eaters justify killing muggles, let alone other wizards?

"Look, it's not just the wizarding community that's finding bodies, though," Remus pointed a bit further down the page. "Says that there have been quite a few suicides recently, undoubtedly cause by the imperious curse. See? I don't think any muggle would choose that kind of death... Not when their families thought they were happy..."

James had been completely absorbed in his breakfast conversation with his two friends, and hadn't noticed a group of five or so Slytherins walking between the Hufflepuff and Griffindor tables. They were still sore that Snivellus was beaten so easily. Several catcalls were directed at him.

"What's the matter, Potter? Gonna cry over some dead muggles?"

"Where's your mudblood girlfriend, Potter? Don't tell me- she turned back into a pig?"

"I heard Wee-Potty is going to take a dive in the next Quidditch match..."

"Good riddance."

It was a good thing they didn't stick around for long, because James was straining to control his temper. Obviously, they would lash out at him when they saw him dating Lily Evans, who was firmly against any kind of rule breaking. Perhaps it was Sirius' glare that sent the Slytherins scurrying off. James' heart swelled up for his best mate.

"Well done, Prongs," Remus nodded at him with a piece of toast clamped in his teeth. "A certain redhead would be proud of you for not losing your temper."

"They weren't worth it," James drawled coolly, stretching like a cat after a nap. "I'll get my chance at them quickly enough, when we're out of this school."

"That lot are friends with my _golden_ brother," Sirius growled lowly, his cold eyes still locked on the door as if he was daring the group to reappear. It was obvious that he disliked anything to do with his brother, just the same has he _"disliked"_ the rest of his family.

Peter snickered quietly, almost choking on his bite of toast. He looked around to ensure that no one was paying attention. James ducked his head to keep from outright laughing at his tubby friend, who immediately went back to shovelling food into his mouth.

"I'm sure they're just aggravated that Snape lost the duel. Embarrassed for their house, I guess," Remus added compliantly with his wary eye on Sirius.

There was a momentary lag in the conversation until James got up from the table. Immediately, his other three friends got up, as well. Heads swivelled as the boys left the Great Hall, as if they were waiting for something to happen. Unfortunately for those that looked forward to a bit of entertainment, nothing happened. The boys didn't look back after walking through the grand doors of the hall.

"I heard the cannons won their last game," Sirius was saying avidly. "There's a chance they'll make it to the finals this year."

"Not likely," Remus responded cheerfully. "The harpies are far stronger as a team and you can see that they outwit all of the other teams..."

Sirius was avidly shaking his head in disagreement even as Remus stopped talking. "I can feel it in my bones! They're going to win this year."

"Right, they're going to win just because their seeker happened to catch the snitch, by mistake, twice?" Remus rolled his eyes obnoxiously, looking to James for a respite. The messy haired youth could merely shake his head and shrug: arguing with Sirius would get a person either incapacitated or severely annoyed.

"Wee-Potty decided to play?"

James snapped his head so quickly that he felt a muscle throb in pain. The Slytherins had been waiting for them. Undoubtedly, they were very unhappy that they were ignored. With the grace and coolness from experience, James retracted his pocket from his wand and held it level. Sirius effectively made the same movement, but Remus merely had his hand on his wand, still in his pocket. Peter was long gone, but James didn't have time to worry about that. Things were about to get ugly. The Slytherins were practically breathing down his neck with their wands directed at Sirius and himself.

"If you want to play like this, it's your own fault if you get hurt," James snapped, not daring to make the first move. He was headboy! "Maybe I should put all of you in detention for a month- with Kettleburn."

One of the Slytherins looked faint for a moment. It was one of the younger kids. The others didn't look happy about the idea of having to stalk around the Forbidden Forest with their only protection being a man who was missing one and a half of his legs, four fingers, a chunk of ear and his left eyebrow. Gail was probably the only one who would have volunteered for that detention.

The other Slytherins wavered for a moment, until their leader barked, "enough, Potter. We're not scared of you. The Dark Lord will put you down, just like your filthy, blood traitor mother."

James would have jumped the kid, if Sirius hadn't beaten him to it. The tall, blonde kid was blown straight back into the wall by a well placed disarming spell.

"You're the filthy one, Wilkes. Never learn, do you?" Sirius snarled: his monstrous side quite apparent to anyone who looked at him. It seemed like the other Slytherins sensed just how dangerous Sirius' temper was. Most of them looked ready to wet themselves, not that Sirius cared. He continued speaking as if he was talking down to someone he utterly loathed, "you think you're great because of your family, but in the end all you can do hide behind your family name. Never once have you attempted to achieve greatness by your own means. Pitiful little sods, the lot of you. You aren't worth our time, and we really don't have any to spare on any of you- get out of here."

When the Slytherins were too stunned and didn't even move, Sirius stared at each of them ominously before booming, "**NOW**."

At the raised tone of his voice, the younger students stumbled over themselves to get away, lest they become hexed. The body of Wilkes remained unconscious, his head resting against his thigh. Remus sighed and moved toward the crumpled boy.

"Just leave him, Moony," James commanded, watching as Remus pocketed the Wilkes' wand and moved toward the body. Sirius had already stalked off, aggravated by the whole ordeal, but even so- he had been somewhat cool.

"I won't. As a Prefect, it's my job to take injured students to the hospital wing. You'd better go with Padfoot," Remus nodded to James before lifting Wilkes' body with a levitation spell. "Go make sure he doesn't break anything."

"Mmm, right. See you in a bit, Moony."

With that, James was left playing catch up to his quickly moving friend.

* * *

**Author Note:**

I'm so sorry about the delay on this chapter. Long story short, I've been having back problems and sitting in the same spot for more than ten minutes is killer. I've done my best to make this chapter longer to make up for updating less. I wouldn't expect very frequent updates, anyway. I've been focusing on my class quite a bit this semester, so I won't be writing as much... But my goal is to have this story finished and move onto the sequel by May.

Did you guys like the long chapter, as opposed to the short ones?

-Rue

_Wolfy Pup_: Aw! Thank you! I hope you're feeling better now! I would be very worried if you weren't. Hopefully, this chapter will be on par with the last!

_Apocolips_: Yes, things don't really happy all too often, but it's their last year. I think all of the characters just want a bit of time to relax before they actually head out into the real world- if only the Slytherins would take a break on the whole "Voldemort is our King" thing.

_Lauren B16_: Haha! Sirius can be a jerk, but there a moments when I really like him. I hope I caught him in this chapter... I'm unsure, because I was kind of talking through him for a moment. I really do thing he values people who try their best [even if he's the kind of person who doesn't have to lift a finger and he's perfect]... Yes, Remus and Gail! Hopefully, next chapter I'll be able to write something steamy. If I'm not too embarrassed... Oh my.


	66. Chapter 66

**A/N: This chapter contains material that is not suitable for... anyone. Well, explicit material.**

**Chapter 66**

Snow fluttered around a pair of students in delicate pattern. Not a flake landed on them, though they were standing in the open air in front of a nearly rotten old house. With every gust of wind, the house rolled and complained. Two pairs of eyes examined it, watching for it to fall. It didn't happen. The moulding old house simply righted itself back up, only to be pushed again in a different direction.

"They really should tear it down," Lily stated simply, nodding profusely at her own logic. "It could be quite dangerous. I bet it will topple over right when some brave soul touches one of its planks."

James turned to his only companion and studied her face for half a second before speaking. His tone was calm and unwavering, "oh, the shrieking shack is safe enough as it is. It's just been built to look like a creaky and unsafe old building, but undoubtedly there are several spells on it which keep it up."

Lily pondered this for a moment before giving James' hand a firm squeeze, "I suppose you're right... But I still think that it's dangerous. Do you think it's haunted?"

"Hogwarts is haunted," James pointed out mysteriously. "Something far worse lives in there."

"Oh, scary," Lily shivered and took the change to cling onto James' arm. "You make it sound like you've been inside."

"That's because I have," James laughed. "There's a secret passage from Hogwarts into the shack... But don't ask me where it is. It's far too dangerous for such a sweet girl like you."

Lily reddened significantly at James' roundabout compliment. She didn't say what was on her mind right away, but James assumed she was thinking it over. When she finally spoke, her tone was inquisitive but not demeaning.

"So you spend a lot of time exploring, hmm?"

"There's not a lot of other things to do," James pointed out with a laugh. "It's not like I spend any time reviewing."

"That's true," Lily murmured warmly, leaning in and giving James a soft kiss on the cheek. Their Christmas date was going quite well so far, even if it was a few weeks early. They were having the date the weekend before the start of the winter break, since the redhead would be spending the interlude with her family. James, on the other hand, would be staying at Hogwarts. Their circumstances successfully put a hatchet in their plans.

"Are you cold?" James asked suddenly, wondering at the slightly chilled temperature of Lily's lips. They dawdled outside for such a long time that the tips of his fingers were starting to sting because of the cold. Undoubtedly, Lily was just as cold as he was. "Why do we go get warm inside one of the shops."

"Sounds good to me," Lily beamed at him before wrapping one of her slender arms around his. It was surprisingly hard for the redhead to keep her balance, and James was only too happy to let her hang onto him.

* * *

"Why so glum, chum?" Jo asked peevishly after fifteen minutes of Gail kicking her heels against the boards of the window seat.

"No real reason," Gail spoke sweetly enough, although her mind was filled with thoughts of her own temporary anger. The last time she has talked with Lily, the redhead had promised to go to Hogsmeade with her during the next weekend. Obviously it wasn't going to happen. What made her more upset was that she turned Remus down for the last Hogsmeade weekend for a while. He had decidedly gone with Sirius and Peter, instead.

"Fine, well... I'm going on a date," Jo stated calmly, peering at Gail as if she expected the tawny haired girl to care.

"Have fun," Gail waved the girl off monotonously, turning her somber gaze back onto the grounds. The window was cold, but it suited her just fine. She was feeling rather depressed about her friend skipping out on her for a moment, but it wasn't like she couldn't go to Hogsmeade by herself. She needed a haircut, and it wasn't like she needed Lily to hold her hand or anything.

Gail jumped off the bench and darted up the stairs. She needed her winter cloak, gloves and a pair of boots to go outside in the cold weather. Once she had snatched all that she needed, along with a few coins, she practically ran down to the gate. She didn't stop to talk with any of the paintings, though it had been ages since she had. Gail also passed by an assortment of shops in Hogsmeade as she made her way towards the place she had gone before to get her hair cut.

"Hello, young missy!" The plump witch greeted her from across the counter with a bright smile. "By the looks of it, you could use another haircut. Right this way."

The job took approximately ten minutes. One of the witches that worked at the shop cut her hair evenly into a bob before trimming her bangs. When the witch was done fiddling with charms here or there, Gail's head felt quite light. She hadn't really noticed just how long her hair had gotten over time, but now that it hung around her jawline she could feel the difference. She looked different, too, but in a good way. The hairstyle gave her a more mature, sophisticated look. Gail stumbled out of the shop, feeling lightheaded and relieved to find that her emotions had settled down.

That was, until she spotted two familiar figures. Black, messy hair stood out of a large crowd of students almost as well as Lily's bright red hair. Anger flooded through Gail for a moment. She decided that a moment of joyously taking her frustrations out on the happy couple would not ease her mind at all. Turning her head, Gail walked through a crowd of students in the opposite direction, heading towards the joke shop. If there was one place Gail was absolutely sure the three boys would be, it was there. Zonkos had a bunch of younger girls crowding around the windows and jostling each other for the best positions to see through the half-frosted windows. It was a fight for Gail to just get through the door.

She was right. The three boys were evidently debating over what kind of fake hippogriff dung would be better to create the biggest uproar in the hall leading to the Slytherin's common area. Gail wasn't surprised that they knew where the Slytherin's portal was, but it was rare to see Sirius planning something without James.

"Hello boys," Gail grinned, watching Sirius drop a large ball of dung onto his foot.

"Oh- Gail, I thought you were spending time with Lily," Remus frowned over at her, examining her hair without saying a thing.

"Nuh-uh, Prongs and Evans are on a date," Sirius corrected him, tapping the dung with his foot. This only caused Remus to adopt a look of confusion mixed with a bit of resentment.

"Yes, well, apparently friends are less important than boys," Gail half growled, restraining herself from giving Sirius a good hard kick. He didn't really deserve it, though. She was just in a bad mood.

"Poor thing," Sirius patronized her handsomely. His grey eyes shone with wicked delight, even if his shine was smarting. "Evans forgot you."

"I'm sure it just slipped her mind," Remus soothed, rubbing a gentle hand along Gail's cloaked arm. She could only shrug in response. There wasn't anything for it and there really wasn't anything else to say. It would be better for all of them to just forget it. She allowed Remus to continue soothing away her frustrations. The boys continued to shop around for different gag items for a while. Sirius eventually ended up with a bulging bag of firecrackers, balls of dung, silly worms, and various other toys. It was surprising that the bag was still in one piece.

"Are you staying at Hogwarts over Christmas?" Remus asked pleasantly enough, his worried gaze turned toward her.

"No, I got a note asking me to work over the break," Gail explained softly, offering Remus a hesitant, apologetic frown. "They're having a lot of trouble getting anyone to work these days."

Remus simply shrugged with a weak smile fastened to his face. He didn't look too happy about the situation, since he wouldn't be leaving Hogwarts with her. Gail could tell that he was worried: his brow furrowed slightly. His next question didn't surprise her.

"Where will you be staying? You aren't renting out the White Cottage again, are you?"

"No, I'm not. The nursery is providing me with a room," Gail explained cheerfully. "The ministry has started to watch all of its employees a lot closer, just as a precaution. Fewer ministry workers have gone missing after the Ministry started stationing aurors here and there... Or so I've been told."

Remus frowned darkly but didn't say a word for a long moment. When he spoke again, it was forced and hoarse, "you'll be careful, won't you?"

"Of course," Gail responded avidly, clamping herself onto the thoughtful teenager.

"And you'll send a letter every day?" Remus asked softly, relaxing under her touch.

"Every week," Gail bargained slyly.

"Every second day."

"Three."

"Deal," Remus seized her free hand with a grin of victory. Her hand was released slowly, which made Gail thing that the handshake lasted a little bit longer than normal.

"Prongs!" Sirius' voice snapped Gail out of her trance. She had completely forgotten the presence of the other two boys. "Evans!"

The happiest couple in the world approached their four-person group. They were holding each other sweetly and walking with no real hurry. James slowly raised an arm to greet his best mate. Eventually, Lily's lovely eyes made their way over to the group, as well. When she found Gail there, she looked surprised for a moment, before her eyes went wide.

"Gail!" Lily released her hold on James and darted over. "I can't believe I forgot- I'm so sorry."

"It's fine," Gail said wearily, giving her head a firm shake. Her hair swayed around her ears, almost mournfully. A few stray bangs tickled her eyes. "It's obvious you wanted to spend the day with James. Don't worry about that, I got a haircut by myself before coming to meet Remus."

Lily pouted softly for a moment, but eventually she melted. James was prodding her gently in the side with the palm of his hand. He wanted her full attention, and Gail knew that she couldn't stand in their way. Instead of throwing a fit at her friend, she just relaxed and faintly smiled for the first time that day. At that time, she didn't know the future. It was impossible to see the effects of her reaction.

* * *

"Oh wow," Jo laughed after whistling sharply. "Planning to give that to Potter?"

Gail didn't look up from her book, but she could see Lily bob her head bashfully out of the corner of her eyes. The redhead was holding a solid chocolate heart. It looked like she was having trouble holding it, since the thing was a good three feet long and two feet high. In any event, Gail did her best to ignore the entire conversation, even if she was somewhat unsuccessful.

"I want our first Valentines together to be memorable," Lily stated cheerfully, beaming at her friend. "We're even going to Slughorn's annual Valentines Party."

"Didn't he just have his Christmas party? Or was it New Years?" Avalon merry voice drifted across the room.

"Well, yes, but he claims that this party is for those that didn't make it to the other two parties," Lily stated fondly. "Ah, I really can't wait to see James in his dress robes."

Gail couldn't stand it anymore. She tossed her book down, got up and left the dormitory without a word to Lily, Jo or Avalon. If they were confused about her behaviour, she didn't notice or care. They were all so happy for Lily, who was slowly closing the important people out of her life in order to make more room for James and his friends. It was nice that Lily was trying to get along with the boys, but Gail's passive side was slowly eroding. When James and Lily were together, everyone else was ignored as if an invisible barrier had been placed between the two and everything else. In fact, Gail hadn't had a real conversation with Lily since before she started dating James.

Things weren't any better after Christmas, either. Lily had gone to her parents and spent a wonderful time with her family. James stayed at Hogwarts with his friends. Gail had gone off to work for a few weeks at the overtaxed nursery. After the break was over, everyone was walking on shells as if they had forgotten how to communicate with one another. After the awkward period, Gail had decided it was easier to just ignore her situation with Lily. She ended up spending a good amount of time with Remus and Peter. As a result, there seemed to be a little break in the group. It was just that Gail wanted to avoid having an argument with Lily, and by association James. Sirius usually ended up tagging along with James, since they were best mates.

These thoughts clouded Gail's brain. She found herself wandering the halls without any real sense of direction. She had made it down to the main floor before realizing where her feet were taking her. Ahead of her was the dull sky. Her disconnection with Lily seemed so far away at that moment, when she was staring up was the softly textured sky. Her mind was soothed by this. She decided it would be a nice day for a flight down to Kettleburn's hut.

In an instant, Gail was swimming through the sky with a pair of soft, tawny wings. The wind was cold, but it didn't bother her very much. Her feathers provided some shelter from the chilly wind. Snow dusted the grounds. Pools of the flakes had accumulated in certain areas after being pushed around by the ever-present wind. Gail eventually dropped out of the sky when she found a smoking chimney.

Kettleburn was around the backside of the cottage, wrestling with a medium sized crate. Gail rushed over to lend the man a hand, helping him set the parcel onto the snow covered ground.

"Thanks," Kettleburn grinned at her. "When did you get here? I didn't hear you approach."

"I'm fairly good at sneaking around, aren't I? Is this the crup you ordered from the ministry? For our class tomorrow?"

"Indeed it is," Kettleburn nodded. "Little guy's name is 'Switch'. Unique, right?"

"Oh? I thought it was a cute name," Gail laughed, aware that Switch was yelping, as if asking to be let out of the crate. She leaned over and released the lock and allowed the wooden side to fall into the grass. Almost immediately, Gail was frantically greeted by her sweet companion. The crup hadn't forgotten her over the period in which he'd been with other handlers at the nursery.

"You raised him?" Kettleburn nodded faintly while examining Switch. "He looks well taken care of, and he's even imprinted himself onto you. Would you mind demonstrating his ability in class tomorrow?"

"It would be my pleasure. He's such a clever crup, isn't that right Switch?" Gail agree, stroking one of Switch's ears gently as the dog-like-creature sat in the snow. Every once in a while, Switch would look up at her knowingly and give a little happy yip. Undoubtedly, he was intelligent enough to give Padfoot a run for his money.

"Ah, don't look now. The prancing Slytherin is coming- no doubt to invite me to another one of his idiotic parties," Kettleburn growled, rooted in place since Slughorn had already seen him.

"What now?" Slughorn greeted both of them, ignoring Switch's low growling. The Jack Russel Terrier face twisted in distrust. "Just the two I wanted to see. You see, I'm throwing a party in a few days and I would simply love for the two of you to come. You do still work at the Ministry, don't you Miss Forester?"

Gail was about to turn the walrus down. She was utterly appalled by the greed in the fat man's eyes. Unfortunately, Kettleburn spoke over top of her denial, "come now, Forester. Take your handsome boyfriend with you. It'll do you some good- you've been exceptionally moody over the last few weeks."

"But-"

"Then it's settled," Slughorn agreed cheerfully, giving Gail a warning look. "I'll be expecting both of you to make an appearance."

Switch didn't like Slughorn's threatening stare and started snarling at the man. This finally caught the walrus' attention. He turned a cold eye on the dog for a moment.

"What's this? You've already raised such a rare breed, Miss Forester? I'm truly impressed," Slughorn beamed, ignoring the ferocious look Switch was giving him. This didn't make the dog happy. An insult for an insult. Switch lifted his leg on Slughorn as if to mark his territory on a tree and the head of Slytherin wasn't overly impressed with this.

"It seems he needs more training, though," Slughorn growled, jumping back from Switch. He soon started lamenting the bottom of his pants and his right shoe. Switch's aim was impeccable.

"Don't take it into mind," Gail grinned cheekily at Kettleburn, dropping to one knee in the snow so she could rub Switch's collar. "He's still quite young."

It was too late, Slughorn scurried away. Every once in a while, he would throw a furtive glare over his shoulder. At least he got the hint that his presence wasn't appreciated.

"Well now, I think you'd better keep this one with you," Kettleburn jerked his thumb at Switch. "He's too big to keep in my hut, and I think I'd have trouble keeping him in one place. It looks like he won't go far from you, anyway. I'll let the other instructors know that you're taking care of this pup for me."

"He's not really a puppy anymore, sir," Gail laughed. "If I remember correctly, he's almost a year old- he's just a small dog. Right Switch?"

Switch responded with a cheerful bark, staring at Kettleburn with knowing eyes. There seemed to be some respect between the two. Even so, Switch didn't leave Gail's side. If she took a step, he would take a step. Honestly, Gail couldn't remember the crup ever behaving so well. She allowed the small dog to follow her wordlessly. It was time for breakfast...

* * *

By the time she made it to the Great Hall, several people had stopped her to ask where she got her dog. Of course, she had to point out that it wasn't a dog: it was a crup, and she was just looking after it while they were learning about them in Care of Magical Creatures. Gail noted that a group of girls were following her, eyeing the "cute puppy" as if they wanted to come pet it. She ignored them.

"Morning love," Gail settled herself down next to Remus at the breakfast table after giving him a compulsory kiss. She was met with a mumbled, tired greeting. It was Sunday morning, just after ten. It was obvious that Remus had been up late the night before. "Morning Peter."

Peter nodded cordially to her and continued to chow down on the remnants of his breakfast. Both boys were oblivious to the looks that Gail was receiving, since Switch had hopped up onto the bench on her other side and was staring at the plate as if expecting food to appear. Carefully, Gail placed a few bits of ham, toast and other assorted foods onto both her plate and Switch's. It was true that crups would eat anything without qualm: they truly _were_ wizard breeding at its finest. Gail suspected that Switch was a descendant of dragons, or something equally humorous.

"Nice dog, Forester," came a call from down the table. "But shouldn't you feed it dog food?"

"It's a crup," Gail responded dryly. "They eat anything and everything."

"Neat! How'd you get it?" Another kid asked, who was slowly scooting over towards Switch, with his hand reaching to touch the creature. Switch huffed for a moment, but didn't make to bite the kid.

"I'm taking care of him for Professor Kettleburn," Gail responded slowly. "We're starting crups this week."

"_Neat_!" The boy laughed cheerfully. "I'm definitely taking Care of Magical Creatures next year."

"Nice job," Remus muttered softly before speaking mischievously. "Take all of _our_ attention, why don't you? At least the people who weren't focusing on Padfoot and Prongs might have seen us... Not with a dog around, though."

"Hmph," Gail snorted rudely, teasing him delightfully. "My attention isn't good enough for you?"

"What about Peter? How is he to find a girlfriend now?" Remus continued with his depressed tone, though his eyes shone playfully.

"That point is moot. Sorry Peter, but I just don't think you're what the women are looking for."

"S'ok," Peter grinned shyly. "I figure I'm doing just fine if I'm not being teased."

"Yes, you are that much better off just by being in Griffindor," Gail agreed, resting her hand on Remus' forearm to keep him from mentioning the times that both Sirius and James had made fun of the boy. Unlike his two friends, Remus didn't jump at the opportunity to rub Peter's inferiority in. He kept all thoughts to himself and by doing so, was shrouded with a veil of mystery.

"Oye Moony! Wormtail!" James called over to them, a broad smile planted on his face. His eyes shone with infinite mirth as he made his way over to them. It was the first time Gail had seen him away from Lily in such a long time. Even when she was missing, James' handsome aura was still quite bright. Sirius, half as bright as James, trailed loyally after his friend. James spotted her last and tossed her a flourished wink, "hello Gail. You're looking lovely this morning."

Gail groaned and scooted closer to Remus. Her side was fully pressed against him. For a moment, she thought he would object to the intimate touch, but he surprisingly relaxed. When the tension had fled from him, Remus freed his arm and wrapped it around her.

"I should go," Gail said hesitantly. "I think it's time to-"

She was abruptly interrupted by James' impeccable gloating, "mate, I have wonderful news. Guess who was invited to Slughorn's Valentines party by his beautiful girl- the most beautiful girl in the world..."

"Like there's any other," Gail grumbled moodily, slipping from Remus. She left the table while everyone was focusing on James. Trailing behind her, Switch's toenails tapped on the stone floor. Together, they wandered away from the Great Hall. Yet again, Gail walked while not paying attention to where she was walking, but at the same time keeping an eye out for stray Slytherins.

"Gail?" Lily's sweet voice called her from her stew. Grudgingly, Gail turned to examine her red haired friend. There was a momentary lag in their conversation: it was obvious that neither knew what to say at that moment. Someone had to say something, so Gail pulled up her socks and attacked what had been eating at her for a while.

"Do you have a moment to talk?" She asked slowly, allowing her dark gaze to examine Lily. The redhead looked a little bit tired. Perhaps she was exhausted from being attached to James at the hip. He was hyper active most of the time, with a thousand things going on around him. Surely it was agony to keep up with him.

"Sure," Lily agreed softly. She didn't make a move to start the conversation. Gail had the feeling that she was waiting.

"How are you? We-erm... haven't spoken much in a while..." Gail started, quivering slightly under Lily's stare. The redhead didn't have a response other than "fine."

"So... you've been spending a lot of time with James recently," Gail stated, not sure whether she meant it as a question or a fact, but she couldn't deny the accusing tone in her voice.

"Somehow you don't sound happy for us," Lily frowned at her. It was the first time in years that Lily had taken that cool tone with Gail. "It's not like you don't spend time with Remus..."

Gail's jaw almost dropped. Luckily, she kept her composure. She wasn't sure whether Lily had meant that comment as an insult in some way or not. It wasn't like Gail hasn't started the conversation with James, anyway, but even so her mind spiked with the tip of her temper.

"I am happy for both of you," Gail spoke between gritted teeth. "I'm just worried that all you're concerned with is James- it's not healthy to focus all of your attention on him, Lily. You'll end up hurting yourself-..."

"You're just mad that you're not the centre of attention anymore," Lily hissed- or what Gail assumed was a hiss.

"I've never _been_ the centre of attention, Lily," Gail growled in response, taking a step away from her friend. "If you knew me, you'd know that."

"Oh sure, play the victim again," Lily stated coldly, eyeing Gail with a look of disapproval. "Every time something happens to you, to lay yourself down as a martyr for the cause- why don't you speak up for something for once instead of acting like a _coward_."

"You want me to speak?" Gail cried loudly. "Fine. You're so consumed with James that you're wasting yourself away and I'm worried that you're not paying attention to your own needs. On top of all that, I'm frustrated that I can't do anything about it. And yes, I'm upset that you blew me off for a Christmas date with James and that's why I've been avoiding you. Now that I've told you exactly my position on this matter, I'm going to go this way and you're going to to that way and have a nice meal with James while you think about what I've said."

With that, all the tawny haired youth could do was turn and walk off. She didn't bother to stop or look back and neither did she hear Lily leave. She wasn't overly mindful of the redhead, anyway: someone had to tell Lily which way was up and open the redhead's eyes. The only thing Gail could think about at that moment was getting to a washroom where she could cry her stress away without being caught and mocked by Slytherins. She had completely lost sight of Switch, but she wasn't bothered by this. Her eyes were misting over when she felt a pair of familiar hands grab her.

"Gail, I heard your voice... What's wrong?" Remus asked her, dragging her through a rather handsome door. Gail took one look up at his worried face and the tears started trickling down her face. She couldn't quite form the words and ended up mumbling something incoherently. She soon found herself in an extremely warm, encompassing hug.

It took a while for her hiccups and sobbing to subside, but when they did, she became acutely aware of Remus' soothing hands. Gentle, questioning hands brushed her face and hair, soothing away her pains. When she was finally quiet, Remus repeated his question.

"Oh, I just had a fight with Lily and she forced me to say something horrible," Gail said, deftly rubbing her nose to remove all traces of snot. It was strange how Remus was hovering over her when she wasn't feeling very attractive, a fact that made her heart speed up. She couldn't help but kiss him.

"I'm sure you two will work it out," Remus offered softly between kisses. While he was talking, Gail took the opportunity to place a few sweet kisses on his neck. For a moment, Remus stiffened and took a step back.

"We can't do this, Gail," Remus pointed out. "We'll be expelled- what will Professor Dumbledore think? I-..."

"Look over there," Gail pointed into the corner of the room. A soft bed had appeared in the room of requirements. The nightstand beside the bed had a few tiny, square packages that rather resembled packets of soda crackers. Remus glanced over and blanched.

"No, no, no- Gail..." Remus protested, shaking his head violently. Gail had no choice but to scoop up his protesting in a tight hug. He was adamant about their situation, but he wouldn't refuse her kisses.

"Remus," Gail moaned softly into his ear. "Say yes already. There won't be any trouble if we act responsibly."

The teenager's head snapped up. He was examining the condoms on the side table with a level of scrutiny. "Muggle made?"

Gail released him and strode over to examine the little purple packages, "no, wizarding- special charm, you think?"

"Probably," Remus laughed rather nervously, shuffling his feet on the stone mason flooring. He refused to meet her gaze, whether by nerves or annoyance.

"It says that these work one hundred percent of the time- on the side... Can we try, Remus?" Gail asked softly. "Just this once... and if you don't like it, we won't do it again."

Remus' face lit up like a cherry. Reluctantly, he nodded and shuffled forward until he was standing next to her. Gail took the initiative to caress his robes off, until he stood bare-chested in front of her. He looked quite embarrassed at that moment and turned his face away. It was adorable. Gail couldn't help but grant him a few passionate kisses. Somehow her shirt came off, whether by Remus' or her own machinations. Soon they were both bared to one another and together they tumbled into bed with the innocence they could have but once.

"I love you, Remus." Gail murmured sleepily after they were done.

"And I you, my dear Vega." Remus murmured, though Gail only faintly heard him. Sleep claimed her after she was exhausted from crying and everything else.

* * *

**Author Note:**

Oh. My. Goodness.

I'm really embarrassed after writing this chapter. Sweating bullets and everything. The dark side of romances, I guess...

Anyway, I worked so hard to get this done for for Valentines (well, it was done yesterday, but it still needed editing)... Well... That's all I can say. I hope all of you enjoyed it, or skipped the end of the chapter...

-_Rue_

_

* * *

  
_

_LaurenB16_: Adorable! Sirius certainly has some redeeming qualities, and some not-so-much. But he's still adorable- almost as much as Remus. Well... I left one bachelor for the ladies to ponder over... Yes, my back is feeling a bit better, though I feel like I'm starting to get a head cold after walking my dog yesterday without a hat on. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

_Kimmmz_: Thanks for the review.

_Apocolips_: I'm glad you like the long chapters. I think I prefer them myself, too, since it's a bit of a challenge to carry on the story for the whole chapter. Personally, I know who would win if James and Gail duelled... And it wouldn't be Gail. Thanks! My back's feeling a lot better now. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, as well.


	67. Chapter 67

**Chapter 67**

James has always been the very definition of cool, but after hooking Lily, his status seemed to increase a hundred fold. It was almost at a point where he was feeling like he was a wizard rock-star. In spite of everything, though, he was more than happy just to sit in a quite corner with his friends or the beautiful redhead. Life was too short to spend time on people who were only hanging off him to make themselves appear more influential. He had come to this realization over a nice bit of mackerel.

"James, I need a word with you," Lily spoke quickly, a look of desperation in her eyes. Her mere presence took his attention away from Sirius and Peter. "Alone- just for a moment."

Sirius whooped coyly, causing Peter to snicker shrilly. All that James could do was smile and wave his friends off. They would listen into the conversation if they were interested, no matter what anyone did. James had resigned himself to their light-hearted jokes and eavesdropping.

"What is it?" James asked quietly, once they had come to a deserted hallway, just off of the Great Hall. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I'm alright, I think," Lily wavered for a moment, as if she was debating telling him what was on her mind. "I just had a row with Gail, and I-"

"You had a row?" James' eyes grew large at the idea. The two girls had always been close: very supportive of one another. "You should go have a talk with her, Lily… That kind of thing-"

"That's only part of the story," Lily cut across him. "She really took my number and I was quite stunned… When I went after her, she was with Remus- and well… They didn't head back to the common room, that's for sure."

"So they went for a walk," James frowned, staring down at Lily with mixed emotions. Something was obviously bothering her, but he was standing so close that all he could think about was snogging her.

"Perhaps you're more naïve than I though," Lily stared at him. "But that's not what they were doing. She was crying and I think they've gone to… you know."

"What? Moony?" James laughed at this. "There's no way he would do that kind of thing, even with Gail. He's too worried about passing on his-…"

"Pass on his what?" Lily stared up at him for a moment, before shaking her head. "No, I definitely heard them. I listened at this great big door for a few minutes after they'd gone in, but I came to find you as quickly as I could."

"Damn it," James frowned, pondering over the idea. He was concerned for his two friends. It was obvious that they would have to have a little talk about passing on the gene for lycanthropy. James had thought that his friend already knew the consequences of such actions, but apparently he was wrong about the werewolf.

"I'm worried about Gail, James," Lily sniffed loudly. "What if she's only doing this to… to…"

Lily's tear stricken face was enough for James. He quickly wrapped her in an embrace that seemed to last for minutes. The tearful redhead seemed to calm down quite a bit before gently pushing him away.

"We should go catch them," Lily finally spoke, her tone somewhat off. Her eyes seemed a tad puffy and red. She hadn't been crying, really, just on the verge.

"I agree," Sirius spoke, causing both James and Lily to jump. There was a wicked gleam in the boy's eyes. If Lily was shocked that Sirius had managed to sneak up on them, she hid it well. Peter was right behind Sirius, looking out of breath. Undoubtedly, Wormtail had been left to scurry after Padfoot.

"He must be in the room of requirements. He's not on the you-know-what," Peter wheezed.

"Right," James agreed, walking with a swift pace while hoping that the two were either done the task or had not started. He preferred to think of the later option, as it was more viable. There was a brooding silence over the Griffindors as they marched toward the room of requirements. When they reached where the door should have been, it was gone.

"It was here before," Lily stated, looking quite puzzled. She reached a pale hand toward the wall, where the door usually appeared.

"Ah, over there," Sirius pointed down the hall. Remus and Gail were walking, as if in their own world. They seemed joined at the hand. "Oye, Moony- congratulations!"

Remus swung around and looked quite surprised. His eyes studied each of them in turn, as if trying to decide who had leaked information. There was a hint of redness and exhaustion in his face. James couldn't bring himself to look at Gail, who was meekly standing behind Remus.

"Welcome to manhood, Moony!" Sirius continued, oblivious to his blunder and the cherry sheen of Remus' face. Gail tensed horribly, forcing James to examine her. The tawny haired girl's eyes were locked on Lily. She knew. It was obvious from Gail's calculating and mistrusting gaze that she had already unravelled the mystery.

"Please don't make such a fuss about it," Remus groaned, fidgeting slightly.

"I hope you had enough sense to use a-" James started, before being cut off by Gail.

"That's none of your business, _Potter_. Even if it was, don't you think you should have a little faith in us. We're not reckless."

James felt the clutch of shame for a split second. He stared at Gail for a good long moment, recalling everything he knew about her. The moments when he had teased her, when he had been an awful git, the moment when she was with Sirius, her transformation and her romance with Remus. Even though he was armed with this knowledge, James couldn't help but worry and this ignited his temper worse than anything else.

"Sorry," James muttered, holding his temper back as best as he could.

Gail looked crestfallen for a moment. She became silent and was obviously tired. Every now and then she would shift uncomfortably and wince. For the moment, she seemed to have forgotten Lily. If there had been tension between the girls before, James assumed that it had just been resolved.

"Let's just go back to the common room," Remus suggested, wrapping an arm around Gail as if to support her. It was uncharacteristic of Remus to allow touch anyone so liberally, but apparently he allowed Gail to do so after they had broken down their last remaining barrier.

* * *

"This is it," Gail gulped, staring at the doors to the Great Hall. The last few months of school passed like a sweet dream. The toil of the student in their last year replaced all other thoughts. Gail hardly kept up with her classes when she was one hundred percent focused on studying. She couldn't even imagine being a Prefect, Head girl or on one of the Quidditch teams.

"How lucky is it that our first exam is Care of Magical Creatures?" Remus spoke slyly. "You didn't even have to review for it, did you?"

"Are you kidding me?" Gail gaped at him. "I read every book I could get my hands on..."

"Right, so you're going to blow this test out of the water and make the rest of us look bad," Remus laughed, appearing to be quite relaxed before their first NEWT level exam. In fact, it was a three part exam, including a two-part essay, some short answer questions and a practical exam which tested how well the students could care for the creatures. It was one of the longest exams.

Gail could only groan with regret. If only she could be free from school like Amber, who successfully gave birth to twin girls. The blonde was living happily on the coast of Italy with her husband, under her new surname. Amber Watson was one of the first people to start recruiting members for the Order in Italy. There was little action in the south. It was a safer place to raise children- or so the blonde's letters said.

"Don't stress so much," Remus laughed calmly, rubbing his hands along her spine. "This isn't even the most difficult exam you'll have."

"Oh, thanks for reminding me," Gail quipped, pressing her hands against her hips and staring down her beak at Remus. She couldn't remain angry with him, but it was fun to play angry once in a while.

"Oh, look. The doors are open," Remus gestured. Ten students filed into the hall for the beginning of the gruelling exams.

* * *

Roughly six hours later, the Care of Magical Creatures exam was finished. Gail's back was stiff and sore from how she was holding herself during the written portion of the exam. She'd eaten a small portion of food during the breakfast, but she was slowly becoming more hungry. Even so, she didn't feel like abandoning the nice, shaded spot by the Marauder's tree.

"Ah," Remus sighed comfortably, resting his head against Gail's thigh. "Isn't it wonderful to be done one exam?"

"Yes, until you remember that we have quite a few more left. Let's see: Transfiguration, Herbology, Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts, and those are only the ones I have," Gail complained wryly. She took her time while running a hand through Remus' hair. He merely laughed in response, his eyes closed peacefully.

"Just enjoy the moment- we can continue studying tomorrow," Remus commanded in a drowsy tone, his light brown irises peaking out from under his eye lashes every once in a while. "Because studying is well and good, but burning yourself out is an easy way to lower your own grade."

"Moony! Gail!"

Gail peered over in the general direction of the school, finding three students making their way over to the tree. Another two appeared over by the doors, moving quite a bit slower. Peter, James and Lily made it to the tree. Peter was very much a third wheel, and was outstandingly out of breath from the effort of trying to keep pace with the other two. There was no way Gail could avoid this confrontation, not with Remus' head planted firmly on her lap.

"Hello," Gail greeted them furtively, aware that Remus was on the border of sleep. James seemed to realize this, since he quietly took a seat against the tree.

"How was the final?" James asked calmly, taking Lily's hand in his own. His hazel eyes focused on Gail questioningly.

"Oh, it went well enough," Gail nodded to him. She forced her own hand to relax on the top of Remus' head.

"Gail..." Lily started, scooting forward to force Gail to look her in the eyes. "I'm really sorry- I know I've been distant recently... I've been meaning to apologize for a long time, but we've both been so busy. I'm-"

"Oh," Gail laughed anxiously, feeling worried by the fact that she was unable to tell if Lily noticed the avoidance measures Gail had taken. She couldn't meet the redhead's uncomfortable gaze. "It's fine. Leave it be."

"No- Gail, listen to me for a moment," Lily sniffed loudly, reaching out one delicate hand to grip Gail's arm. The redhead was quite oblivious to the fires of anger in her friend's eyes. The redhead had _spilled_ everything to James. Such information hadn't even been granted to Lily! She really had no right! Even so, Gail would let it go if she was given enough time. She may never entrust such a secret to Lily again, but that didn't mean that their friendship would completely evaporate.

It only took one steely look from Gail for Lily to back off and release her grip. Lily seemed to understand just how furious her friend was.

Remus grumbled, straining to keep his head from falling to the grass. Gail had jerked backwards in an attempt to avoid Lily's touch, causing him to slide slightly. With an annoyed glare, he glanced over at the somber couple, who had finally made it to the tree. Within a quarter of a second, Remus' scowl turned into a jubilant smile.

"Congratulations on becoming a _real_ man, Padfoot," Remus taunted the dark-haired teen mildly, as Sirius had teased him earlier in the year, and things were obviously fine between the two. Another difference between Remus and Gail: he was more forgiving. Linked to Sirius, Avalon was positively beaming. She wasn't wearing her glasses, and there was something fresh and interesting about her.

"Finally!" James cheered, earning himself a swat from Lily.

"We all knew it would happen," Lily concluded mildly, watching Avalon with slight interest. "Congratulations, Ava. I guess we should be saying 'welcome to the group'."

Avalon returned the excited smiles of the group with one of her own. Sirius had settled on a girl that was almost the complete opposite from himself. Typically, Avalon was the voice of reason, a model student and a wonderful Prefect. She was strict, but not severe. It was a wonder how she even got along with Sirius and his unsteady personality.

"Really, now we just need to get Peter a girl," Lily concluded admirably, ignoring the fact that Gail had removed herself from any bonding moment they might have shared.

"Or a hot chicken pie," Sirius added with a bark. For a moment it looked like he was going to "take possession" of Avalon from the way he carried her hand around, but in the next moment Avalon had freed herself from his grasp and had settled herself in between Gail and Lily.

"You two are talking again?" Avalon asked kindly. "No more of this curt nonsense?"

This line of questioning annoyed Gail, but Lily was more than happy to speak. She was _such_ a charming girl. "Yes, we're quite fine now. It would be absolutely awful to graduate and never speak to one another because of such a silly misunderstanding,_ right Gail_?"

"Yes," Gail agreed, gritting her teeth into a half smile. It really hadn't been a misunderstanding: Lily was just putting a word to their spat.

"I see," Avalon stated blandly, examining Gail's face carefully. Under the blonde's analytical stare, Gail dropped the "smile" with a shrug. It wasn't her place to say anything.

They sat together, under the great tree for hours. None of the girls spoke, since there was a mutual agreement that they wouldn't cause a scene in front of the men-folk. Beyond that, Gail was happy to watch the boys. James really had the most miraculous way of keeping Sirius entertained by telling stories and jokes in which Sirius was usually the main character. This lasted until Sirius complained that his stomach was empty. Gail had never seen Peter look so relieved in his life. The rat practically ran back towards the school, panting all the way.

* * *

Exams drifted by in chunks. Gail would spend what felt like hours in the library. Compared to her review time, which passed quite slowly, exams felt like they were over within a matter of seconds. But her exams were over. Surprisingly enough, she felt like she could run over and kiss Lily on the cheek. Never before had she felt completely thrilled to be finished anything. For good or bad, she had completed her education at Hogwarts.

All that was left was to celebrate and act accordingly during the graduation ceremonies. Gail had heard of downsized graduations, but Hogwarts took the cake. They couldn't walk across a stage, that was the muggle thing to do. Instead, they would let their hair down (or up, depending on the girl) and dance the night away and be too tired to participate in any of the graduation activities the following day.

The Great Hall had been made over with silver decorations. Several smaller tables had been set up in the hall, all adorned with the same tablecloth. The white material seemed to flow out of the table's centrepiece and had a similar consistency and colour as milk. After a few seconds of being amused by the strange decorations, most of the graduating class headed to the dance floor. Gail was quick to discover that Remus was not so keen on dancing. He looked quite tired. At least this gave them an excuse to abandon the party for a while. Gail justified her actions on what was best for Remus, though she couldn't help but feel some remorse when she saw the tips of a stunning green dress float by her.

Lily was dancing with James. The pair of them spun through the crowd of students, oblivious to their surroundings. Every once in a while the crowd would part just enough and Lily would be turned in just the right direction to display Lily's reddening heels. Gail did her best not to examine Lily's feet, but it was fairly obvious that her shoes were causing large blisters. The reddened area of Lily's ankles were half an inch above her shoes, from Gail's estimation. Yet, the redhead continued to dance as if she wasn't in pain, her face lit with a sophisticated grace.

"You're scowling, dear," Remus stated wearily. They had been sitting at one of the tables for some time, and Gail hadn't been paying him any mind.

"Hmm- oh?" Gail's frown deepened. She had just noticed that James wasn't quite balanced either. It was highly likely that his feet were in the same state as Lily's. The couple persevered, though.

The dancing crowd parted for a moment to expel a student here or there. Avalon emerged from the crowd by herself, which was quite strange. She had gone off to dance with Sirius earlier. To think the king of possessiveness had relinquished his control over one of his subjects!

"Hello Avalon," Remus greeted her cheerfully, offering a seat. "Lost Padfoot in the crowd?"

"Something like that," Avalon commented offhandedly, taking the seat next to Gail. She was quite rosy in the face and her wet eyes were drawn to the crowd. There was obviously something wrong. "Men are morons."

That was the last thing Gail had thought she would hear Avalon say, even more so when Remus was sitting a few feet away from her. Even the werewolf was perturbed by the blonde's statement.

"You had an argument with Sirius?" Gail couldn't help but ask, earning a reserved nod from the blonde.

"He tried to-to _touch_ me while we were dancing," Avalon offered, as if either of her silent companions had inquired about her situation.

"That sounds about right, for Padfoot," Remus commented dryly, taking a gulp of the strangest pumpkin juice Gail had ever seen. It looked like someone had cast a colour-change charm on it to make it look like liquid mercury. She couldn't bring herself to drink any, and even felt the urge to gag after watching Remus drink it.

"He's probably over there, dancing with some other girl," Avalon moped, resignation thick in her voice. It was the first time Gail had seen the stoic blonde cry. Impressively enough, the blonde had put on waterproof mascara, but the rest of her makeup was flowing down her face and pooling around her nose and mouth. This scene flustered Gail so much that she was only capable of wildly looking around for anything that remotely resembled a tissue.

"What's this?" Sirius' voice erupted out of the crowd as he pushed his way through the herd. They gave way easily enough, when they saw who was pushing them. He made his way over to Avalon briskly, tossing an alarmed look at the three of them. He didn't seem to comprehend the situation very well and this caused Avalon to turn away from him.

"You made her cry, didn't you?" Sirius growled, jabbing his finger at Gail menacingly.

"Of course I did," Gail agreed bitterly. With a shred of defiance she hadn't felt in a long time, she stared at Sirius before getting up. "I just couldn't resist picking off the weakest of the flock to torment. You know what that's like you great big-"

Remus was in the fray before anything else could be said, trying his best to calm both Sirius and Gail down. The three of them had completely forgotten Avalon. Calmly, the blond wiped her tears away and got up.

"Sirius Black," Avalon started speaking slowly, her voice slurred by mucus. "Is there a reason why you're here?"

"You're my date." That was all it was to Sirius. He wouldn't leave _his_ date sitting alone: he was a Griffindor. This idea was quite popular with both James and Sirius: chivalry, or else idiotic mayhem. In any event, there was nothing else to his attachment.

"Maybe I don't want to be _your_ date anymore," Avalon stated coldly, though Gail knew this was not the case. "Maybe I'm having a blast with Gail and Remus."

"Yeah right," Gail muttered under her breath. Remus heard her, but all he could do was smile sadly.

Sirius seemed to be pondering over Avalon's statement with a heavy look on his face. He was weighing his alternatives and debating which action should be taken in regards to the blonde that had resisted his will so thoroughly. His next statement was calm, his eyes showing no hesitation.

"Would you like to dance, Clack- Avalon?" Sirius asked deliberately, a twinge of annoyance hanging off of him. If Gail hadn't known the look in his eyes, she would have assumed he was trying to be sweet.

Avalon frowned at him like she was puzzled by his behaviour. Her tone had reverted slightly when she spoke again. "You won't try anything funny, will you?"

"I swear on Prong's life," Sirius stated solemnly. That certainly was a valuable oath to him. He might as well have promised his own life in the event of a misdeed.

"Very well," Avalon nodded, allowing him to lead her back to the dance floor.

"It's not every day where one gets to see his best mate acting mature," Remus scratched his chin. Gail couldn't help but think they had just witnessed a very odd, incomprehensible scene. "Almost wish Prongs could have seen it."

"Ah, but he wouldn't have been happy about Sirius promising such a thing to a girl, would he?" Gail laughed, feeling more relaxed again, now that they were alone. She hadn't noticed the pain in her shoulder blades until then. The stress of final exams and walking on eggshells with Lily was wearing on her. She couldn't wait to escape into the real world.

"It seems like a nice night for a walk... Care to join me?" Remus asked, marvellously sweeping his arm in a rather grand gesture towards the exit of the dance. Gail nodded briefly, only sparing a short glance towards the dance floor. James and Lily were still dancing like a pair of maniacs, intent on enjoying their second last day together at Hogwarts.

* * *

"What are you planning on doing after you leave?"

Gail wanted to scream. If she heard that question one more time, she was going to jinx the person's nose straight off their face and onto Snape's forehead. The younger students couldn't get enough of their heroes. Undoubtedly, James and Sirius were spending the last day at Hogwarts soaking in as much attention as they possibly could. They had behaved all year without so much as hexing a Slytherin (that Gail knew about), so there was a huge chance that Griffindor would win the House Cup and the Quidditch Cup in the same year. This was all thanks to the boys. So of course they were the centre of attention.

"I'm heading back to my family's house," James declared for the sixth time that morning. "Gonna help my Dad out- and help fight you-know-who."

"No way!" One of the younger Griffindors gasped, turning to Sirius to confirm this juicy detail. The dark haired teen merely grinned. "Neat!"

Remus and Peter did not seem overly happy that their friends were diverging this information, even though they were safe in the Griffindor common room. The werewolf had resigned himself to silence, as per the norm. Surprisingly enough though, Peter looked less than enthusiastic about the whole thing. In fact, he looked rather glum and it was beyond his friends to offer any solace. It wasn't her place to bother and Gail really had given up trying to talk to Peter. He had become too strange over the last few days. She hadn't even seen him at the dance.

Gail squinted her eyes to focus on the book she was reading. She had read the same word at least five times. This was likely caused by the fact that she hadn't slept well the previous night. A pair of Griffindor girls had spent the night conversing about boys and their plans for the future.

"Why are you reading that? We're done exams, _Forester_," James jeered, pointing across the small room. Gail could feel at least five pairs of eyes jumped onto her. There was an uncomfortable pause for a moment.

"Really? I hadn't noticed," Gail snapped peevishly. She didn't bother looking up from the book. Her eyes were starting to water and droop tiredly.

A warm arm encircled her as she felt herself slip slightly. The contact jerked her awake as if she had been dreaming of falling down a cliff. Gail's crown connected with Remus' cheek as she jerked her head up, causing him to yowl in surprise.

"Sorry," Gail muttered, blinking back the dreariness out of her eyes.

"S'fine... Why are you so tired? It's already nine..." Remus pointed out.

"Oh, a pair of birds were quite noisy last night. I never thought they would chirp for so long about James, but-" Gail yawned to the point that her jaw clacked slightly. She only weakly covered her mouth. "Glad this is our last year. Looking forward to having my own room."

"Do you have a place to stay when we go? My parents could conjure another bed..."

Gail snorted and ran one of her fingers across Remus' knee, "sweet of you to offer, but I don't think they need another young adult to worry about. I have a place to stay for a while, anyway. The nursery has a few rooms and I'm allowed to bunk in one of them until everything gets cleared up or once I get enough galleons to buy my own flat. Maybe I'll conjure you a bed in the corner, sometime."

Remus laughed deeply. The twinkle in his eyes told Gail that her offer was not lost on him.

* * *

The ceremony to leave Hogwarts was more complex than James had expected. There were several different parts on their last day.. The first part was the dance, which seemed like a fairly normal way to celebrate.

Their last day at Hogwarts was filled with some of the strangest closing activities James could imagine. Of course, there was the last Quidditch match, which Griffindor won and took the championship. Things got odd after the match, though. Several small events occurred during the day, including pixie tag, mandrake flinging contests and giant squid wrestling. Even Kettleburn had included himself in the festivities by introducing a group of seventh years to the art of gnome racing. There was also the wine dance, where several professors marched themselves halfway across the campus and jumped into a charmed barrel of some sort in order to stomp on grapes.

James was about to call it quits and have a nap by the time the graduation list had been read off before the farewell feast. The strangest thing of all was Dumbledore's closing speech. He had started by announcing that Griffindor won the House Cup because a certain group of boys hadn't caused very much trouble during the year. Dumbledore proceeded to inform them on how similar aged cheese was to the seventh years. Apparently, the creation of cheese was much the same as training young witches and wizards.

"Some of you have aged rather like Cheshire cheese," Dumbledore ambled cheerfully. "But there is always an open door at Hogwarts, should you wish to continue your education."

"I think he just called us thick," Sirius hissed quietly to James, who snorted loudly. No one seemed to mind them, though. Too many of the students were chuckling to themselves.

"You know he isn't talking about us, Padfoot," James responded earnestly, keeping his tone quiet. "He was looking right at the Slytherin table."

"That said, a few of you have worked hard to become perfectly strong Bleu d' Auvergne. I congratulate those of you who have achieved this status..."

"He just called us smelly," Sirius grunted enthusiastically, as if trying to incite a riot. "This time, for sure..."

"No, he was looking at Peter," James scoffed, not minding the embarrassed purple shade of the plump boy's face. "Only one of us has enough odour to knock out our enemies..."

Sirius grinned wickedly, bumping Peter with his elbow to signify that they were just joshing him. Peter's only response was a weak smile.

"I have but a few words for those of you that are leaving Hogwarts for the very last time," Dumbledore continued. His eyes shone with all of the wisdom he had accumulated over the years. "Trust your friends. These times are dark, as you will come to know, but the light of friendship must not be extinguished. That said- dig in."

The speech was over and there was a momentary lag between Dumbledore speaking and the applause, but the Great Hall was fill almost instantaneously. The sentiment of friendship was one that most of the students could agree with, even if they hadn't been completely understanding about the cheese aspect of the speech.

* * *

On the train the next day, James couldn't even remember eating breakfast, or even supper the night before. The glum mood hung over James for a while, until he realized that he would be able to spend as much time as he wanted with Lily outside of school. He couldn't help but feel a bit more cheerful when he watched Gail and Remus together, as well. James didn't bother to comment about the sense of stability he felt when he watched them.

It wasn't like he got his kicks from watching them, or anything, it was just that there wasn't anywhere else for James to look. Peter wasn't an option and he couldn't turn his head to look at Lily. Unfortunately, even glancing at the redhead was not a good idea, as it lead to a front row seat to watching Sirius and Avalon. The dark haired teen was spending his energy trying to suck Avalon's face off. At least Remus had been practical enough to put a silencing charm on them.

"Did you see where Jo decided to sit?" Lily asked Gail keenly.

"Nope," Gail shrugged. She seemed quite complacent without knowing the juicy details of who was sitting where and with whom. In fact, Gail didn't seem to care about what Lily was saying at all.

"She was sitting with a bunch of Ravenclaws- boys. At least five of them," Lily rambled excitedly, her eyes flashing like twin emeralds. How did she not notice that Gail was not listening to her at all?

"That's nice," Gail agreed airily. Her dark orbs were focused on Remus' hand. They almost seemed to be joined together by their digits.

"What do you mean 'nice?' Is it nice that Jo could become a harlot?" Lily scoffed, an edge of danger in her tone. It was more likely that she was just annoyed by Gail's lack of attention than anything else.

"It's nice that she's not sitting alone somewhere- and she's not being harassed by a bunch of Slytherins," Gail commented, finally focusing a rather cold look on Lily. By this, James could only question what was going on with the girls. The two really hadn't spoken over the last few days, not while the James was around, at least.

Lily turned to James sharply, "what do you think, James?"

"Jo'll be fine," James laughed calmly, even though his stomach jerked. "She's as good with jinxes as anyone else. So if someone is giving her too much attention, she can get her point across."

"I suppose you're right." Lily sighed heavily and let the matter drop. The rest of the train ride passed with bursts of quiet conversation and the occasional joke directed at Avalon and Sirius.

* * *

Author Note:

Hello everyone. It's been a while, hasn't it? I apologize for the delay. First of all, I would like to make an announcement. I'm going to be using the Canadian spelling for the rest of my story. I apologize. At some point I switched from using the American spelling to the Canadian spelling without saying anything. I would also like to point out that the characters have become _idealistic_ while they are at Hogwarts for a reason. That said, there have been problems with my writing, and I am working to fix my next few chapters.

In any case, this is the last chapter that the characters will be at Hogwarts. We rushed to the end, yes, but I promise that the next few chapters will make up for it. And no, the story does not stop simply because they graduated. In fact, the story only gets better.

-Rue

* * *

_LaurenB16_: Ah! I'm sure he did enjoy it. He is a boy, after all, and I am told they enjoy such things! I still get quite embarrassed by things, even though they're natural. It's just a part of my personality. At least I will write things tastefully, and if you hear sobbing late at night, just let it be your lullaby... Alas, enough of my tomfoolery- must discuss Lily and Gail. Yes, fights happen between friends and things don't always turn out. I can't say I take Gail's side on this, though. I'm nervous to hear what people think will happen next, though.

_kimmmz_: Ah! Thank you. I'm quite glad we all got over that hurdle, too.

_Twilightchick13_: Thank you for commenting! I hope that you continue to enjoy this story, even as it wraps up.

_Legolas Sporker_: Oh my! Well, I will take the full blame if you fail your classes. Just send your parents over... I was sweating bullets and I have been trying to block the whole episode out of my mind! Sirius has feelings- for Gail? Oh my- I wish that were the case. I saved a rather nefarious trick for this chapter, didn't I? Anyway, thank you for your comment.

LocoRoco: Aw, come on now! Lily isn't that bad, she just has moments when she's human. We all have moments of obsession- I know I do! But I agree. Friends are far more important than the men-folk. Thanks for commenting, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

_Bellaboo13_: Aw, shucks. Now you've gone and hurt my feelings! Gail is unrealistic? Noooooesss!  
I kid. Good job catching Gail- she was becoming a Sue, but there is a method to my madness. Thank you for pointing all of this out and for sticking with this story. As I have said in my author note, I know my grammar and spelling aren't the best in the last few chapters- if they ever were good to begin with. You'll notice a few changes in the next few chapters.  
Oh yeah! I almost forgot. Velvet only provides good traction if you're me! I'm so clumsy that it doesn't even matter.

_Kitza_: Ah, thanks for your review. My ability with naming stories is lacking, yes, but my ability to draw you in anyway! THAT is magic. I'll consider renaming it if I get a good suggestion, because honestly... I like the double meaning in the name right now... Maybe it's just me. And yes, I love to shinny up our shiny trees. Beta? What is that? Someone who will read and help me with my story? Is such a thing possible? I won't believe it until I see it!

_Dracoins-Eridani_: Let me just say one thing. Freaking. Cool. Name. Wow, really. I would totally name a character after you. Anyway, thanks for the comment -and for being much gentler with me than the two commentaries before you...

lupinett: Ah, thank you, thank you. All Lupin names are welcome here. Here is an update just for you- because you reviewed today.


	68. Chapter 68

**Chapter 68**

James ran a hand over his head distractedly, attempting to get his misbehaving hair under control. His nerves were getting the better of him for obvious reasons. They had scarcely been out of Hogwarts for three months and James was planning something closer to social suicide than he had thought possible. But he was almost one hundred percent sure than the plan would work out.

He was going to ask Lily to marry him. Not that they could have an outrageously large wedding or party, since things between the Order and the Deatheaters had become quite hot. The two factions were constantly playing their war games while skirting the edges of being visible to muggles and wizards alike. Frankly, it would be lucky if they could even get James' father to come to the wedding...

James ran a hand through his hair again, noticing that it just wouldn't stay down. Neither charm nor potion could tame the tufts.

"James?" Lily's sweet voice called him back from daydreaming. Her hand put a slight amount of pressure on his arm.

"Oh, sorry," James grinned in embarrassment. He had gone to all the trouble of securing a seat in one fancy muggle restaurant, one with a name he couldn't even pronounce, and yet he was ignoring the lovely redhead beside him. It was a marvel how quickly she had grown up after leaving Hogwarts, or perhaps that was just the change of clothes. He hadn't seen her in muggle clothes very often and never more than twice a year.

"You were saying that you had something to ask me?" Lily asked patiently, tilting her head to the side and causing the muscles in her neck to strain mildly. Her eyes were fixed on him with an emotion that James found hard to define.

"Yes, well," James glanced around himself, taking in their surroundings. They were perfectly alone on the terrace of the fancy restaurant for the moment. Sucking in a large breath, James took hold of Lily's hand. The feel of her hand gave him strength as he knelt down in front of her. Lily's glorious, almond shaped eyes widened and her mouth dropped open.

"Lily Evans, there is only one person for me," James started as he had rehearsed for days. He took out a ring that had been in his family for a long time. It was a ruby set in what looked like the smile of a lion. "I hope we can be together for the rest of our lives. Will you marry me?"

It took Lily a moment to recollect that she was required to say anything. As she opened her mouth to speak, a rather loud crash came from within the restaurant. Several screams pierced the muted frequencies to meet James' ears. All of the fancy lighting went out: both candles and what Lily had called electric light bulbs. Several of the globes burst and ignited as if there had been a short in the wiring. Fire leapt along the outstanding wooden panelling, tracing its way around the interior of the restaurant.

Three other screams erupted from within the building. Some woman was crying bloody murder, weeping over the body of some elderly gentleman. His handlebar moustache appeared to have been burned off completely, as James could seen in the light of the fire.

"We need to get these muggles out," Lily called to him, her voice almost lost amid the aggravated shouts.

James nodded, "you take that side. Round them up and get as many out as you can. I'll take the far side."

Lily paused for a moment, eyeing James suspiciously. It was almost like she had understood that James had given her the side of the restaurant closest to the doors and windows for her own protection. Instead of arguing, as she very much looked like she wanted to, Lily turned and assisted an elderly couple up from their table.

James stepped over the body of what appeared to be one of the boys employed by the place to clear the tables. The remnants of the fancy meal he had enjoyed less than half an hour earlier leap into James' mouth and out onto the floor. The weakness of his own body was a reminder of his own life was at stake, as much as the muggles around him. Straightening, James peered around the room. The flames were becoming hotter and the smoke was rolling heavily. There didn't appear to be anyone left in the building on the far wall, but James swept by just to make sure.

"Is anyone still in here?" James called, coughing slightly. His airway restricted involuntarily and his eyes filled with pools of water. The heat was almost unbearable. With a swish of his wand, James was breathing normally in a bubble. The air around him was temporarily cooled down.

"Hello?" A small voice called from underneath one table. Within seconds, a small boy crawled out and looked almost ghastly. In the light of the fire, James could tell that this child had to be the son of a wealthy couple, dressed in a finely tailored, child-sized suit. The boy didn't even have the strength to stand up and looked quite faint.

After replacing his wand back into his pocket, James plucked the boy from the ground as gently as possible before making a beeline towards the closest window. All he could think of doing was getting the child out safely. It didn't look good, though. The boy was not awake or aware.

Once they were out in the restaurant's lush garden, James dropped to his knee and pulled out his wand. A quick charm removed his bubble head and revived the boy. It was close, but James managed to slide his wand away without the boy noticing. Covered in soot and particles, the boy coughed for a long time before spitting a rather disturbing black ball of spit.

"James!" Lily's sweet voice called to him. "Look up! We have to get out of here."

James jerkily glanced skywards. To his horror, a looming shadow shifted in the grey clouds. Undoubtedly, the Dark Mark had been used as proof that the Deatheaters had caused not only the fire, but also the deaths of any muggles left to burn in the building. It was clever of them. The fire and the deaths could be blamed on natural causes, thus protecting wizards from any scrutiny.

The young boy shuddered and sobbed loudly, reminding James that he had business to finish.

* * *

Several hours after the attack, James and Lily were finally able to go home. Several wizards from the department of Magical Law Enforcement and a handful of Obliviators showed up afterwards in order to ensure that no traces of magic were left behind. The muggle police and firemen had been lead to believe there had been a faulty light bulb, which caused a short in the electrical system.

Both James' and Lily's wands were examined to determine if they were the causes of the mayhem. This was disproved when Lily's wand showed that her last spell had been a charm to keep the fire from spreading across to the exit of the building, and James' last spell had been to revive the young boy. Neither one of them had launched the dark mark into the sky.

"Walk me home?" Lily asked kindly, after they had been cleared by the ministry workers. She took his arm in hers wearily.

James couldn't help but smile, appreciative that Lily was safe. The attack was nothing more than a warning strike, meant to cause fear and chaos. Or perhaps Voldemort was in the middle of testing his new recruits, ensuring that they were loyal to the cause.

Slowly, James and Lily strolled along until they were in a secluded alley, out of sight from passing muggles. Carefully, James apparated with Lily on his arm, reappearing at the gate of her parent's house. With his date safe and secure, he turned to leave.

"James?" Lily called his attention back, a bittersweet smile on her face. "I haven't given you my answer, have I?"

James shook his head wistfully, "there wasn't much time for it."

With emerald eyes full of tenderness, Lily approached James with her hand raised. She carefully cupped her hand against his face, allowing him to turn his head and brush a tentative kiss a against her palm.

"I will," Lily said calmly, her voice not betraying her calm appearance, though the look in her eyes spoke volumes about her excitement.

* * *

Gail stared down at the gold encrusted note in her hand in dismay. Red flowers highlighted a string of formal print. The wedding invitation had just arrived moments ago, sealed in an off-white envelope. The letter was a proof of some of the only happiness left in a world of chaos and destruction.

"What's that?" Remus asked, poking his head over her shoulder to stare down at the note. His eyes widened for a moment and the light went on behind his eyes. "So James and Lily are tying the knot? On August twenty-eight?"

Remus' face darkened significantly as he slid into a chair. He slumped form a moment, staring across the room. This could mean only one thing.

"Full moon that day?" Gail asked quietly, following his gaze and found her answer. Remus' parents had circled the date with a quill: the ink had smudged when the pages were flipped between months. Gail's theory was was confirmed by the black spec that was supposed to represent a full moon.

Gritting his teeth, Remus ripped his eyes away from the calendar. His bronze eyes seemed to examine Gail for a while, seeking an answer to an unspoken question. "I'll send them a note that I won't be able to make it."

"Don't look at me like that, Remus," Gail snapped, hoping that her indecision wasn't evident. "I'm not going there without you. You know I haven't been on speaking terms with Lily for a while. Besides, who will look after you? Your parents are visiting family. No, we'll just send them a nice letter. That's what we'll do."

This statement didn't seem to make Remus happy. He looked like he was about to protest, or at least scold Gail for clinging to an old spat. He seemed to realize that Gail wasn't going to the wedding for his own benefit, as much as her own. Perhaps it would sink into James' head that he was leaving out one of his best mates if both of them didn't show up. It was bound to either aggravate James, or cause him to realize how thick he was and apologize.

Gail pulled her mug across the enamel top of the Lupin's kitchen table. It was chipped in several places as if sharp claws or teeth had taken chunks out of the sides. Taking a swig of her tea, Gail let the mug drop to the table with a soft click.

"Are you really planning on avoiding Lily to this point?" Remus asked sharply, as if he had been waiting for Gail to finish her tea. He was going to scold her again, and Gail wish she could nod her head in agreement with him, like usual.

"Aw, Remus- come on," Gail complained, ruefully scratching her neck with her free hand. "You know it's not an easy thing for me to forgive."

Remus' eyebrow shot up suspiciously. He was quiet for a long moment before speaking in a completely level tone, "oh? It's not easy to forgive your friend for being worried? Perhaps I misjudged you. I mistook you for someone who cared for their friends."

With that, Remus push himself up from the table and turned his back on Gail. Without another word, he briskly left the room. For a long while, Gail didn't hear anything. The silence was unnerving. Cautiously, Gail got up and followed him into Remus' room. She got the feeling that this was where he had lived his entire life. He was perfectly at ease in his room, though he bristled at her approach.

"Remus?" Gail queried, "are you mad at me?"

Silence. Utter, unnerving silence.

"Please Darling..." Gail took a few steps into the room only to abruptly stop at the sound of a deeply inhaled breath.

"Gail, I don't have time for someone who is so selfish," Remus sighed heavily. He had pulled his school things out and were going through them quickly. He didn't even look up at Gail.

"Selfish?" Gail questioned sharply. The man's line of thinking annoyed her. She really didn't feel that she was in the wrong, though she felt guilty for not sitting down and talking about it with her estranged friend. "Am I being selfish? It seems to me that Lily might be better off without a 'loose' girl like me hanging around. In any event, she hasn't tried to contact me, either. The only time we've even seen each other is at the meeting-"

"Some friend you are," Remus cut her off, throwing a pair of socks to the ground in disgust before he swung around. "You using excuses to avoid your _friend_, Gail. Lily adores you, but you'd throw your friendship away by not going to her wedding."

"That's not the only reason, and you know it," Gail frowned, not taking a step back. She hadn't argued this heatedly with Remus in a long while, and it made her stomach burn uncomfortably. "She told James about us, yes, but you know I couldn't leave you alone to have fun at their wedding while you're here- suffering and alone."

Remus grunted and shifted a book over the side of his bed. It dropped to the floor with an unearthly clunk. The entire house seemed to shift because of the blow before becoming completely silent. Gail was left to stare at Remus, who blankly stared back.

"I'm going out for a while," Remus finally stated, shattering the silence. He pushed past Gail without minding her at all, leaving her feeling cold.

* * *

"Remus?" Gail inquired. She received no answer. The house was completely still around her, but she knew he would be back. It was likely that he had gone to explain their absence to James himself.

Running a hand through his hair, James leaned forward. He had been examining the star chart that hung in his family's den for a few hours, wondering why he hadn't realized that his wedding would be happening on the day of the full moon. He hadn't even noticed until Remus had pointed it out. The sides of his stomach felt like they had been pasted together and his mouth couldn't have been dryer.

"Damn it," James grunted, running his hand through his hair again. "So you really can't make it?"

"Sorry mate, I won't be in any condition," Remus sighed heavily, looking apologetic though he had absolutely no reason.

"And I suppose Gail won't be coming either," Sirius piped up after his long silence. His tone was lightly mocking and only slightly laced with sarcasm: he really didn't expect what he was saying to be correct.

Remus nodded in agreement, "Gail said she wouldn't leave me alone on a full moon- and I don't want to force the issue with her. She's been quite..."

While Moony was struggling to find the correct term to describe Gail, Sirius chipped in darkly, "she's still off her rocker?"

"Not quite," Remus grinned wryly. He was seated on the window seat with his back flush against the window. Streams of sun filtered through the panes, giving the ends of his hair an almost blonde appearance. "I'd say she's being overworked, if I didn't fear for my own safety in muttering those words."

"Women," Sirius growled, tossing Remus a knowing look. "Horrible creatures."

"I sincerely hope you weren't talking about me, _Padfoot_," Lily's sweet voice drifted into the room behind a silver platter of assorted snacks. The redhead had taken to Godric's Hollow faster than James could recall the names of the top ten Quidditch teams in the world. It helped that she got along swimmingly with James' father.

"Nah," Sirius barked. "You're one of us- a fellow through and through."

"I really hope you're not calling her a man, Padfoot." It was James' turn to play indignation. Lily had set the tray down on top of one of the den's ancient liquor cabinet as if she had done so many times in the past.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Sirius beamed.

"So who were you talking about?" Lily asked, peering over at Remus, who tensed momentarily.

"Gail and Remus won't be able to attend our wedding," James offered quietly. "It's during a full moon."

"What? Why would that matter..." Lily's eyes widened as if something clicked for the first time. "Remus really is a werewolf? Severus said- but I never believed. Oh my. Well, that's certainly understandable. Maybe you two will come celebrate with us a few days afterwards then?"

"That would be lovely. I'm sure Gail will agree," Remus agreed, looking quite relieved by the fact that Lily was uncaring about his affliction. James was not relieved, though.

"Snape told you that?" James asked darkly. "I thought Dumbledore forced him to swear never to tell a soul..."

"Oh well, sure. That was back in our second year or so," Lily spoke softly. "When we were still on speaking terms. I really didn't believe him at the time. I suppose I should have."

"Not exactly a nice thing to spread around, given that he was just theorizing at the time," Sirius snarled, eyes flashing darkly. He normally reacted such a way to the mention of any of the Slytherins from their year. "Slimy git, he was."

"Ah well, he has his reasons, I suppose," Lily frowned slightly at the insult to her childhood friend. Though she claimed it had been years since they had spoken.

"Don't mind him," Remus laughed . "Sirius and Snape are oil and water. There's no way they would ever get along..."

* * *

A handful of people were present during the wedding, including Lily's parents, James' father, Avalon, Jo, Sirius and Peter. To James' surprise, the curly haired blonde had travelled all the way back to attend the wedding, as well. Apparently, Lily had invited Amber to their wedding, though he couldn't even remember seeing her invitation. Amber's two daughters acted the part of flower girl and ring bearer. The girls did what they could, with some assistance from the adults. Unfortunately, James couldn't even remember the twins' names, let alone tell them apart.

While he was nervous about the whole thing, the small ceremony was over quickly and all that was left was a quick dinner and celebration afterwards. Lily had changed out of her white, lace trimmed dress and was content to serve her guests a few courses of food.

"Oh, dear Lily! You made such a wonderful bride," Mrs. Evans cooed blissfully after polishing off her piece of fruit cake. She was quite unaware that her husband was completely distracted by the moving painting of James' great grandfather behind her.

"Aw, _mum_! Shucks," Amber cried in place of Lily. This earned the blonde a gentle swat. In turn, the redhead became a shade of pink James hadn't seen before. A round of laughter swept the group. Peter laughed a bit longer than the others, as usual.

"I believe it's time for us to pull out the piano," Mr. Potter concluded peacefully, slowly getting up. His legs quivered momentarily before he pulled himself up to his full height. His age was apparent for only a second.

Sirius grinned and got up as well, "sounds like fun. Ladies, shall we dance?"

Avalon and Amber both got up and followed Sirius and James' father out of the dinning room. The Evans got up to follow, arm in arm. James, ever the romantic, offered his wife an arm. Lily graciously took it and offered James a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Come along, dear," Lily smiled softly, pausing to examine James with a curious look. "We shouldn't keep the others waiting. They'll want to dance, you know."

"I know," James snorted quietly, knowing that they would spend the rest of the day dancing and enjoying a few moments of peace with their friends. He leaned down and locked his lips to Lily's for half a second. "I wish I could sweep you away and keep you to myself."

"Later," Lily laughed, pulling his arm and leading him into the Potter's den. Sweet, flowing music erupted from the piano that Mr. Potter had settled in front of. The adults were all standing respectively close. Laughter trailed in the room, as if running across the top of the music.

* * *

Less than a week after the wedding, Dumbledore assembled a meeting of as many member of the order of the Phoenix as possible. There were people James hadn't met before. One man with a missing leg menaced the room until the leader arrived, forcing the members of the order to keep their silence in the wayward house. The whole building had been created to harbour the members during meetings, and if they didn't have anywhere else to go.

"You're all here early," Dumbledore greeted them, stepping into the room with an aura of edgy composure. His purple robes trailed after him. "Miss Vance has recently uncovered some information about the Death Eater's next move. They're planning to take over Diagon Alley."

There seemed to be a collective breath, held and waiting for Dumbledore to speak. But the elderly wizard wouldn't reveal his mind so easily.

"Good move on their part," Fabian Prewett spoke. He was sitting two chairs away from Gail and a shaky, pale Remus. His brother was sitting next to him. "Best way to scare the largest amount of wizards all at once."

"Not to mention kill anyone that resists," Gideon added, grinning grimly. The look reminded James of Sirius whenever he spoke about his family. There was an obvious dislike hidden in Gideon's eyes that James didn't care to examine, feeling that it would reveal more about himself that about either of the Prewett brothers.

"Indeed," Dumbledore nodded passively, though his blue eyes ignited. "This is why we must prepare for the worst. We have three days to warn as many individuals as possible to stay clear of Diagon Alley, as well as prepare for the worst. We'll split up into teams of three for the maximum coverage. I've created a list to place each of you with members that you will compliment. Hopefully, we will be able to get to the shopkeepers before Voldemort's army can."

A silent shudder passed through the room, though no one spoke. The bit of parchment Dumbledore brought made its way around, handed from one person to the next. James found that he had been placed in a group with Remus and Sirius and their goal was to watch over Ollivander's shop: a place that was always bustling. Lily had been placed in a reserve group, which would be called on during the attack to help defend key locations. Avalon, Jo and Gail had been placed into a different group to watch over several of the smaller shops. James didn't bother examining the rest of the sheet since he knew very few of the names listed.

"Each of you must place yourselves accordingly near your stations in Diagon Alley during the next few days," Dumbledore continued, once the parchment was back in his hands. He ignited it and watched it disappear into a pile of soot and smoke. "But you must not make it obvious that you are guarding anything. We would not want the Deatheaters to know that we are aware of their plans or how we came to possess such information."

A collective nod coursed through the room, and Dumbledore got up to signify the end of the meeting. Members filed out of the room to prepare for a mission that might mean life or death for each and every one of them.

* * *

Gail leaned against the brick wall beside the ice-cream store with her wand pressed into her warm palm. She had been there for hours, watching for any sign of the Deatheaters or their leader. Some of the stores had shut down early for the day after receiving the warning from the Order, others remained open for different reasons. The crowd in Diagon Alley was less than normal, thanks to the work of the more brave shopkeepers.

Avalon and Jo were located within sight of each other. Avalon was sitting at one of the far tables in front of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. Across the cobblestone road, Jo ambled back and forth in front of Madam Malkin's. So far, things had been really quiet, though the darkened sky overhead seemed to foreshadow the impending danger.

A loud explosion went off down the alley, somewhere near Gringotts. The air in the area seemed to shrink away and leave nothing but a severe chill. Gail could hardly keep herself from shivering, and all that she would allow to float in her mind were thoughts of Remus and hopes for his safety.

Avalon darted over to Gail, maneuvering around several witches and wizards that were running away from the sound of the explosion. They all looked terrified. For all that the Order had done, there was still too much panic and chaos in the alley. Several screams echoed through the chilled air, causing those that were fleeing to surge and move more quickly. Several women passed by Gail, their faces streaked with tears.

"Where's Jo?" Avalon hollered over the sound of the panicking crowd. She had her wand out and directed toward the source of the ruckus. Gail decided this was probably wise so she turned her wand in the same direction. Her heart was dancing in her chest and her hand was shaking furiously.

"She's over there- look," Gail jerked her free hand across the flowing crowd. She could just see Jo's crown. A red beam streaked across the crowd, causing several women to shriek in horror. The stampede to get to a fireplace, an area to apparate from, or the exit of the alley was slowly trickling to an end. The remaining individuals pressed those in front of them. Adorning the faces of the fleeing crowd were masks of pallid fright.

Another red beam skipped through the crowd in Jo's direction, causing both Avalon and Gail to jump into the current of people. It was a struggle to just get around, let alone go in a different direction. Gail's momentary panic was abated when she saw water spouting from Jo's direction. The stunner must have missed her, even if the Deatheaters were closing in. As Jo's spell was short range, Gail could only assume that the Deatheaters were near the brunette, but she couldn't see them through the trickling stragglers.

A white beam kissed the wall of one of the buildings across the alley: the caster had been Jo. Gail could finally see the brunette. A figure in a black cloak gripped her menacingly by the hair. A shrill laugh rang in Gail's ears. The figure was undoubtedly grinning behind its mask. The Deatheater gestured with his wand in his hand. A loud snapping sound preceded Jo's shrieking.

In her moment of stupor, Gail couldn't move let alone comprehend what she was seeing. Jo's wand arm was forced in the air and was twisted and stretched like a spiral staircase. Her bone was protruding from her flesh in several areas. Blood coated Jo's pale flesh. The brunette's shrieking seemed to go on for minutes as the cloaked figure swept its wand again. Up close, Gail could tell that the Deatheater was a man because of his size.

"Not another inch, girls... I guess I've played around enough, now that I have two more cute _friends_ to play with," the figure laughed, as if he was funny. His masked face turned to examine Gail and Avalon for a second. Gail could almost feel the Deatheater beaming at them. "_Avada Kedavra_."

Green light leaked out of the Deatheater's wand and dropped into Jo, causing her to go rigid. Gail could hear screaming- but it wasn't coming from Jo. Avalon stepped forward, jabbing her wand with ferocious accuracy. The Deatheater was calm and just threw up a shield to absorb whatever spell Avalon had launched. His laughter made something ache in Gail, who still felt as though she was the tin man, rusted after decades of terrifying rain.

"You want your little friend? Here you go," the Deatheater grunted, swinging Jo around by her broken arm as if she was nothing but a rag-doll. Jo's body collided with Avalon, causing the blonde to stagger back. Shocked, Avalon dropped her wand. Under the weight of her deceased friend, Avalon struggled to retrieve her wand. Once she had it, she launched another hex at the Deatheater.

Nothing happened, aside from a few angry sparks. Avalon had grabbed Jo's wand, much to the Deatheater's amusement. His deep laughter snapped Gail out of her daze. Raising her wand, Gail managed one of the only spells she could think of, "_stupefy_."

The red stunner hit the Deatheater in the shoulder, causing his laughter to stop abruptly. His wand clattered to the cobbled ground at the same time that he shuddered and fell. Gail had effectively turned the man into living "stone" as she had intended. She wasn't as powerful as James, who would have sent the man flying, but there was always an advantage to being underestimated.

Ruckus was still present in the alley. With no time to think about anything but survival, Gail grabbed Avalon by the arm and lifted the blonde back to her feet before pulling Avalon aside. She maneuvered them both behind the corner of one of the buildings. The body of the Deatheater was still sprawled out in the middle of the street, a few paces away from Jo. Spells rebounded around the alley like paint-balls in a pinball machine. The effect was terribly awesome.

"Jo?" Avalon trembled and extended a pale hand towards her friend.

All Gail could do was snatch the blonde's hand and retain a firm grip on Avalon. She couldn't bring herself to say anything. No soothing words could be spouted at such a time.

"What are you doing, Gail?" Avalon's voice rang, pleading and nearly hysteric. "Jo will die if we don't help her. Quick! We have to pull her to safety- hurry. Why aren't you moving?"

Gail felt something in her snap. It wasn't her temper, not really. A pain spread through her chest and stomach like a wildfire.

"She's already dead, Avalon. There's nothing we can do for her now," Gail forced the words out of her mouth as if she was spitting out a bitter poison. Her monotone voice and the weight of her words must have reached the panicking blonde, who quieted down and became still. Slowly, Avalon closed her eyes and sank into a crouch. An eerie calm came over the blonde.

It took Gail a moment to realize that the spells had stopped. Either the Deatheaters had won, or Dumbledore had appeared and scared the rest away. Either result left a bitter taste in her mouth. They had acted as pawns in a trap for Voldemort.

"Anyone alive over here?" a soft voice called. When Gail glanced around the corner, she saw Sirius standing beside an overturned cart with his wand in hand. He jerked his wand in Gail's direction, noticing some movement. Sirius lowered his wand when he recognized her.

"Merlin!" Sirius exclaimed, making his way over. He stopped by the Deatheater to ensure the man would not be getting up any time soon. He seemed to pause for a second in recognition of Jo.

"He didn't torture her- much," Gail groaned heavily, helping Avalon back to her feet. She felt the need to explain what had happened to anyone that would listen, and it seemed that Sirius was paying attention. "Jo should have been on this side- the crowd separated her from us and made her an easy target."

Avalon cried out when Sirius rolled Jo over. The brunette's face was permanently contorted in a grimace, pain and anguish still evident in her eyes. Gail had to turn away, uncomfortable with the sight of her dorm mate in such a state.

"You're lucky to be alive- you had a run-in with one of Voldemort's most avid supporters..." Sirius grunted. With the Deatheater's mask now in his hands, he nodded sadly to himself. Gail caught the movement out of the corner of her eye. "Head over to the others, I'll take care of things here. Make sure you get Avalon looked at, she doesn't look great."

"Alright," Gail agreed, taking Avalon by the arm again. She took a step before turning back and looking Sirius in the eye. "Thanks, Sirius. I-"

"It's fine, just get going," Sirius grinned without humour. "Go on."

Gail frowned in return and lead Avalon away, towards Gringotts. Several individuals mulled around the entrance to the wizarding bank. No one seemed to care that the bodies of several abandoned owls had been flung across the alley in several directions. Attention was only given to the human survivors and deceased of the attacks. This fact disturbed Gail more than anything else she could have seen. Even so, she made her way toward her remaining companions. One of the surviving wizards standing by the bank was dressed in livid purple robes. He was morosely oblivious to the pain and anguish of the approaching woman. If he had known, perhaps he would have taken heed of her. The sight of him ignited Gail's anger further, as though it had been simmering mildly before.

"Gail, Avalon?" Lily skirted over and was largely ignored by both of her friends. Gail dropped Avalon's arm and continued walking towards Dumbledore. Out of the corner of her eyes, she found James and Remus. They looked like they had been roughed up quite badly, but she could find nothing seriously wrong. This wasn't their moment, anyway. Instead of making her way over to them, she stopped within spitting distance of Dumbledore and stared coldly at him.

"Do you need something, Miss Forester?" Dumbledore asked patiently, observing her with daring, blue eyes.

"This is the last mission I will be blindly running for you, sir," Gail stated acidly, staring rebelliously at the elderly wizard. She didn't bother explaining herself. Jo had been a victim of the man's scheming mind. The old man might have been intelligent, but many of his ideas were not perfect. Gail would not put herself in danger again, not when she could save more lives doing her regular job.

"Is there a reason why?" Dumbledore asked quietly, ignoring the stares of the other individuals in the area. His blue eyes seemed to sharpen over the edge of his half moon spectacles.

"I'm not an expert at duelling. This is not the best place for me- it's obvious and that's one of the reasons that a friend of mine is dead." Gail quivered slightly, remembering the look on Jo's face. Turning, she drifted away from Dumbledore without another word. She faintly heard him speak, but paid no attention. The words that made it into her ears would stick, though.

"You're welcome back at any time."

* * *

**Author Note:**

Hello everyone! Sorry about the delay. The last month has been a crazy of a different level. I'm really glad it's done and I'll be working on this story regularly again. Not too long now and this story will be finished. But there's still some things to do! I hope you enjoyed it.

-Rue

* * *

_AwkwardlyReversed_: Thank you! I really like the title too- I was thinking along the line of "It's time you move on". It might be a bit awkward, but I think it will make more sense by the end of the story. Or perhaps not. We'll see! _LaurenB16_: Coziness! Haha! Well, hopefully you don't hate the idea that Remus and Gail get into arguments sometimes, as well, even though they really care for and need each other.

_Bellaboo_: Hoho- yeah, I really like Lily, too. I think she was impressed with James' ability to control a situation. I'm thinking about "hiring" a beta for the rewrite of this fic, though the rewrite will probably take a lot longer. There's been a lot of positive reinforcement for this story- which makes me glad that I took up writing, but as you've said, there are areas to improve- such as characterization. [Dumbledore's cheese speech _was_ the best, of course.]

_Apocolips_: Thanks a bunch! I'm quite relieved that the last chapter at Hogwarts went over quite well.


	69. Chapter 69

**Chapter 69**

One of the stools next to the stove creaked as Gail sat herself in it. She had been waiting for what seemed like hours for Remus to arrive back at his parent's house. Gail had effectively severed herself from Dumbledore, all but declaring herself an enemy of the Order. She didn't really feel spite towards the group, but she couldn't trust the leadership and her speciality was not duelling. All of these excuses floated in her head as she planned which ones she would say to Remus.

The door to the kitchen opened with a creak, though Gail could tell that the person standing there had meant to open it quietly. Turning her head, Gail regarded Remus for a moment before standing up to greet him.

"That was a damn stupid thing to do, Gail," Remus finally spoke, once he had secured his arms around her in a greeting. Their argument was forgotten with all that had transpired. Remus even allowed her to lean heavily against him while resting her head on his shoulder. A warm, comfortable sensation filled her as if she was drinking butterbeer. "The order-"

"I'm sorry," Gail uttered meekly, cutting Remus off. Waves of exhaustion and relief threatened to draw her mind into oblivion.

"It's fine," Remus soothed, flexing his arms slightly. His breath slid across the side of her head. In the next moment, he was saying something Gail really did not want to hear. "Lily was worried about you. Don't you think it's time to put everything behind you?"

"Was she?" Gail wondered out loud. Half of her wanted to believe that Lily really didn't care. "I suppose you're right- I'll go visit her on my next day off, okay?"

"Mmm..." Remus straightened slightly. When Gail examined him, she noted the worried look in his eyes. It was almost as if he was imagining what she had witnessed. She could only hope he would never have the feel so lousy and useless.

"I'll call on Lily on my day off, don't worry," Gail chided in what she hoped was a cheerful tone. She wanted to avoid discussing Jo's death, even with Remus. There were some things she just couldn't say to him, since all that she could say would be painful.

"And when is your next day off, Gail?" Remus asked bluntly, giving her a hard stare.

"Within a few weeks," Gail mumbled, ignoring the statement Remus' eyes were making. She had been pulling twelve hour shifts due to the recent string of attacks on ministry posts. Someone quit working for the Ministry every second day, and the nursery was no different. The work didn't go away simply because the workers were gone. What was worse, some of those that had been employed by the nursery were fired due to new safety regulations. Werewolves, like Remus, were not allowed to work at the nursery anymore, because a majority of them had sided with the Deatheaters. There were also Ministry officials calling for the use of the Werewolf registry to hunt down the werewolves.

Remus sighed heavily, "well, at least send Lily a note about meeting. I'm sure she's busy getting settled in with James."

* * *

Rolling onto his side, James became mildly aware of the warmth pressed against him. It was a still a strange experience to share a bed with someone, even after two months of being married. He found that it was wonderful to wake up close enough to Lily that he could smell her shampoo. Mornings like this made him want to stay in bed. Groaning, he sat up and blearily examined the room. It was the bedroom he'd used for his entire life in the house his family had owned for generations. Lily and James had been the only ones in the house for a few days now, since James' father had been away on Order business.

"Going already?" Lily's sweet voice asked, though her eyes weren't even open.

"I'm afraid so," James groaned, throwing the blankets off of himself and rolling out of bed. "I have an important meeting with Dumbledore this morning."

Lily grunted and rolled over. James presumed she would fall back asleep, knowing that he would be safe in the company of the man that had been their headmaster. He wasn't really sure what Dumbledore wanted from him, but the note that he received made him think the whole matter should be kept quiet, for security reasons. This secrecy was likely the cause of meeting at such an early time.

James shuffled around the room, haphazardly pulling on a pair of robes that Lily had stored in a drawer in his wardrobe. He even managed to run a comb through his hair, though it did him very little good. By the time he left the house, he was running five minutes late. At least he was able to apparate right to the meeting area.

"Sorry I'm late, Sir," James apologized after greeting one of the men he respected most.

"Many folk your age find it hard to get up in the morning," Dumbledore nodded sagely. "My predicament is almost the opposite. I find it difficult to sleep longer than the sun."

James half-laughed, not sure if Dumbledore meant it as a joke or if he was being teased. Dumbledore, clothed in brilliant purple robes, lead the way into a rather shabby looking pub. The place looked like it had been deserted for years and James would have assumed this was the truth, except for the man standing behind the bar. The man was using a stained rag to smear a thick glass mug. Even if the man meant to be cleaning it, he was smearing the dust and dirt around in circles. Dumbledore took no notice of the man.

"He's too young for this business, Albus," the man snapped after a few minutes of being ignored. "You know his father wouldn't want him working on such a dangerous mission."

Dumbledore finally turned his benevolent blue eyes onto the man, "no, Aberforth, his father certainly wouldn't want to put him in danger but the reality of the situation is that all of us are in danger. So if there's anything we can do to make the world just a bit more safe, then we'll do it. Right Mr. Potter?"

"Of course," James agreed, nodding hastily. It was a little bit disconcerting to be called 'Mr. Potter' but he was married now, and would have to get used to the title eventually. The man named Aberforth regarded him solemnly for a moment, but not really. It was more like James was being looked through. This made James a tad angry, and perhaps run his mouth off a bit more than he normally would. "Someday I'm going to have kids, and I bloody well don't want them to know the terrors and oppression Voldemort will bring."

Aberforth grunted and muttered something incomprehensible. Dumbledore, beaming at James, continued to speak as though their meeting had not been interrupted by his acquaintance.

"Recently, I have discovered that there is more to Voldemort than we originally thought. He has been using the most vile and destructive magic he could get- using the deaths of others to make himself more powerful to the point that he's almost indestructible.

"He has imbued parts of his soul into different items of consequence in order to create the same effect as immortality," Dumbledore continued sombrely. "We have located three of such items already. Two have been reclaimed- during the attack on Diagon Alley. Those two have been destroyed, but we are having difficulties getting the third."

"I don't like this, Albus," Aberforth growled. "You're going to entrust this to such a young kid? Why not give this job to an older wizard?"

"Mr. Potter was the top of his class, Aberforth," Dumbledore explained gently, though his eyes took on a more stern look. "I have complete confidence in his abilities."

The two men stared at one another for a moment, as if coming to an agreement without speaking. James shifted uncomfortably, not wanting to break the silence himself, but still feeling that he should remind the two men that they were not alone in the room. The chair creaked slightly under James, having the same effect as a cannon ball being fired over their heads.

"We have had several reports of cloaked figures entering and exiting Gringotts, attempting to keep their identities a secret. A few members of the Order were able to follow them and this revealed that their identities were, well... Deatheaters that have been keeping an eye on a certain vault," Dumbledore explained, pressing two of his fingers onto the top of the table.

"Bellatrix Black- no, that's not right. Bellatrix Lestrange has been tasked to guard one of her master's precious items. Do you understand what this means, James?" Dumbledore concluded, watching James' eyes light up.

"Whatever it is, it's in one of the oldest vaults, probably guarded with several nasty curses and a dragon," James concluded. His father had described several of the protections that his grandfather had on the family's old vault. That level of protection wasn't necessary these days, and James' father had opted out of it, but some old families had retained their old vaults. "As well as buried under layers of different treasures, I suppose."

"Quite right, actually. From the information we were able to receive from the goblins, there is a blind dragon, as well as several other defences," Dumbledore agreed cheerfully enough, though his eyes took on a more stoney appearance. "It will take an elaborate plan to get into the vault, not to mention getting out in one piece. Luckily, I have taken the time to devise such a plan. It will take some degree of patience and diligence. One slip and you may die- are you willing to proceed with my plan, Mr. Potter?"

"Of course," James agreed, leaning forward to listen to Dumbledore's detailed instructions. The pair of them completely ignored the warning looks they were receiving from Aberforth.

* * *

Hesitating, Gail lifted a hand and rapped her knuckle against the sturdy door. Her hands were shaking slightly. It was a cool, damp morning. The weather added to the sweat on her palms. For a moment, Gail wished she had nerves of steel. Even as the door in front of her swung open, Gail found herself holding her breath.

"Gail!" Lily cried out jubilantly. Her face positively glowed. It seemed like Lily had put on a few pounds over time that they hadn't seen each other, but was still quite an attractive woman. It was already mid-November: the first break Gail had in a long time.

"Hello Lily," Gail croaked weakly. "I'm sorry for being such a brat-..."

"Oh nonsense!" Lily interrupted her. Taking Gail's arm, the redhead lead the way into the Potter's residence. Although Gail knew the inside as well as any house she had lived in, she hadn't expected such evident changes. Some of the furniture had been moved and several new decorations had been placed to make the house seem more youthful. There wasn't time to stop and examine any of it, since Lily was pulling her along to the sitting room.

Two cups had been set at the little table in the sitting room. Lily gestured that Gail should sit in one of the chairs by the table, while she took the other chair.

"You look absolutely tired," Lily pointed out, running her emerald eyes over Gail. "Working so hard still? I wish you would have stayed with the Order. You could have taken days off to go to meetings."

Gail laughed shortly, wondering how much of a break she really would get if she was working for the Order and the nursery at the same time. She grinned without any real amusement as she spoke, "well, it would have been nice to help everyone out, but every time I think about- about... it, you know...

"I just can't..." Gail stumbled, a phlegmy ball welling up in her throat. It had been nearly a month since Jo's death, and she still couldn't forget the look on the brunette's face. There were moments when she wasn't working that she would find herself in a daze, staring blankly at the glass walls of the nursery.

"I wish I could have been there with you," Lily started with tears clinging to her eyes. "I would have been able to help- I..."

"No, Lily," Gail spoke softly, turning her head to regard her friend. "You would have been broken like us. There was nothing we could do for Jo, short of causing her torture to end with her death."

Lily shifted in her chair slightly, moving her hand only to wipe her eyes. She seemed to be pondering what Gail had said. The tea that sat in front of them remained untouched.

"How's Avalon holding up?" Gail asked softly. "I haven't heard about her from Remus. It's a touchy subject for him."

"She's been confined to the Order's safe house because she's in no condition to fight. Mental state and all that. Dumbledore's orders, you know," Lily sighed heavily. She seemed to sag as if there was a larger weight on her shoulders than seconds before. Her face seemed to age decades, if only for a second. "She's still doing her best to help out, even though her nerves are shot."

Gail nodded knowingly. It had been obvious to her that Avalon had been in bad shape after the Diagon Alley attack, but she hadn't realized just how unstable the blonde had been. Everything on that day was murky, aside from Gail's memory of the look of horror on Jo's face and the way her arm had been broken.

"Padfoot has been spending a lot of time with her, trying to rehabilitate her," Lily continued sadly. Her eyes fell to the finished wooden surface of the table. "James has been quite busy lately, so I suppose Padfoot has a lot of time on his hands. I suppose you've heard all of that from Remus, though?"

"No," Gail grinned cheerfully and Lily seemed to understand. "We don't really discuss anything to do with the Order. I think he's trying to protect me. It's sweet- I think."

Lily nodded calmly, "the less you have to do with the Order now, the less likely you will be targeted by the Deatheaters."

"You said James was busy, right? So you're not expecting him back soon?" Gail asked calmly, attempting to turn the conversation into a more comfortable position. The talk of Deatheaters made her chest squeeze uncomfortably and her pace quicken. She felt close to having a panic attack and it was all she could do to not imagine their horrifying masks.

"Yes," Lily paused for a moment, as if deciding on something. "I think Dumbledore has given him a job. Last week he came home looking extremely exhausted, but satisfied. I think they're making progress, but I don't know what they're doing. I have a feeling that they're looking for something- that would be the only reason it would give both both of them such difficulties."

It made sense to Gail, as well. Voldemort must have some weakness that Dumbledore had chosen James to help undermine. She remembered the strange crown she had seen years ago, and the haunting spirit that had attempted to overtake her. It was a shell of a memory: just another fragment of her drifting past.

"I hope it's nothing dangerous," Gail commented with a slight frown on her face. "He might be a father soon. I will be really disappointed with him if he isn't around for the child."

Lily flushed slightly, running a finger across the tip of her nose, "is it that obvious that we're trying? Oh Gail! We've already picked out a handful of names!"

The embarrassed smile on Lily's face made Gail laughed happily for the first time in half a year, "which names have you picked out?"

Lily brightened considerably, "well, I suggested several names for our first child, like Charles, Henry, or Bryce... For boy names, I thought those were all reasonable, but James said he wanted to name our first born after one of his grandparents. I couldn't say no to that, really."

"What were his grandparent's names?" Gail asked curiously, leaning forward and finally taking the saucer of tea. It had long since gone cold, but she was able to warm it back up with her wand.

"Well, his grandmother's name was Elizabeth June Potter," Lily wrinkled her nose slightly, seeming to dislike the name. "I'm hoping our first child will be a boy. Then we will name him Harry."

"Oh, that's a nice name. Harry Potter? No middle name? You'd better give him James' name, then. Just to make it proper," Gail teased slightly, watching Lily's eyes expand.

"Well, I wasn't going to say it, but James was named after his Grandfather, too," Lily pointed out. "His Grandfather's middle name was James. Harry James Potter. Surprising, right? They tend to pass on names in his family."

Lily continued to gab for a few minutes, not realizing that she had completely lost Gail's interest. Glassy eyed, Gail likely had the appearance of fascination or Lily couldn't think of a better topic. Naming a child was a very safe topic, in any regard. Far better than discussing anything else, and more personal than the weather.

"So, how are you and Remus getting along? You said he wasn't talking about the Order, but what else do you two talk about? I'm sure he spends a lot of his time working for Dumbledore, right?" Lily asked curiously, after what seemed like an hour of 'baby talk'. Now that she was completely knowledgeable about his werewolf condition, it was natural for her to ask such a think.

"Oh, we get along," Gail grinned, grinding her teeth together slightly. "When we actually have the time to see one another, that is. We've both been quite busy... Honestly, it's lucky if we have five minutes together some days."

Lily's frown seemed slightly perturbed as she spoke, "these are hard times. It's good to know that you two are still there for one another when it's necessary..."

"Yes," Gail confirmed, though she wondered if there would ever be a time when she would have to rely on Remus in such a way. Calmly, she took another sip of her tea and tried to imagine such a scenario. She pushed the thought out of her head, since she had to keep everything together to successfully patch things over with Lily.

"Oh yes, there was a message that I was supposed to be giving out to all members of the Order. You were a member, so I suppose it'll be fine to tell you, as well. There's going to be another larger attack, but we're not sure where or when. If it's possible, keep your wand close at all times and be careful," Lily rambled all at once before standing up. "Now, I have to get dinner ready for James and Mr. Potter. You're welcome to stay, if you'd like..."

Gail assumed that the invitation had been out of curtesy and little more. Shaking her head respectfully, she declined the invitation on the premise that she had to check the nursery to see if the night shift was pulling their weight.

* * *

Everything was quiet in the nursery a few nights after Gail had spoken with Lily. She had been moving the creatures from the nursery to a new area after the news of the the impending attack. She had just delivered a group of Aethonan flying horses and a few other smaller creatures to the safe location, a small forest to the only creature left in the nursery was Wicket, the brown feathered hippogriff. Wicket typically acted like a guard dog, inspecting all visitors to the nursery with his keen eyes. Some days, the hippogriff would follow Gail around, as if she had a juicy rat in her hands. Because of his protective nature, Whicket had become a key element in Gail's work, as well as a part of the family of animals she had come to love over her years at the nursery.

Gail slowly walked into the glass enclosure of the nursery from the back entrance. It was rare that the lights would be extinguished. For as long as she could remember, the fairy lights had illuminated the space, even in the middle of the day. Today, though, a shroud of darkness loomed within. With her wand held out in front of her, Gail didn't even dare to light her wand up for fear of being spotted by whoever was in control of the nursery.

As she got further into the enclosure, Gail became acutely aware of several presences. The remnant of straw and grains crackled under their feet, as under Gail's, though the figures did not seem to account for the extra noise. The people that had entered the small enclosure were not benevolent, that much was certain from the secretive manner in which they had arrived. It was a good thing that she knew the nursery like the back of her hand. It was easy to skirt around the shadowy figures and keep out of sight. They didn't seem to take notice of Gail for the longest time.

"Hurry up and light your wand, you dolt," a voice called out in the darkness, making Gail jump slightly. She had positioned herself behind one of the wooden pillars that had several leafy plants growing around it.

"She's here. Quickly, we have to find her. _Lumos_," the muffled voice of a female sounded in front of Gail, roughly five paces away. A light appeared over by the voice. It was lucky for Gail that the woman had her back turned to Gail, who was able to hide in the woman's shadow.

"Come out, little friend of the icky monsters. There's someone here to see you," a figure appeared in the light of the first woman's wand. A horrific mask covered the second woman's face. Gail knew that they were Death Eaters within the span of a heartbeat.

"You were always the odd one, Lestrange," a burly man appeared. From what Gail could see, his face had quite a bit of hair. He was wearing similar robes to the others, but no mask, "I can smell her here..."

"Fancy a bit of flesh? Restrain yourself, the Dark Lord wants her in one piece," the woman snapped back.

"You've already killed her little pet birdy, anyway," the first female stated, pointing her wand at the mass of what looked like a mulched pile of dirt on the ground. Immediately, the fallen body rose into the air and contorted wickedly. With his dark brown feathers matted in his own blood, Wicket was suspended like a puppet in the air. Gail had never felt more outraged in her life and that was exactly what the Death Eaters wanted. Literally, she had to cover her own eyes and bite her tongue to keep from doing or saying anything stupid. Despair welled up in Gail.

"Come out, come out!" The second woman taunted, "we just want to play with you. Promise it won't hurt. _Much_."

At that moment, Gail wanted to scream, cry and have a fit. She wished she had a sword with which she could cut the cackling woman's head off. In her last shred of sanity, though, she knew it wouldn't help her situation to blindly charge in. She had to find patience; she would strike at the Death Eaters when they were completely unprepared for her attack. They were fools if they thought she would willingly walk into their trap, but perhaps that wasn't such a bad idea.

"_Sonorus_," Gail whispered, pointing her wand at her throat.

"Bellatrix Black, do you think I'm stupid enough to approach you? I'm no fool," Gail's voice echoed around the glass enclosure. Her ploy seemed to work, the three didn't know which way to look, "I'm afraid I'll have to say that your cousin is far more clever than you."

A scream of frustration met Gail. She knew she had successfully goaded the woman into her trap. Bellatrix quickly removed her mask and flourished her wand, "not a Black anymore, pet! Lestrange now."

"Congratulations on your highly overrated wedding, Bellatrix _Lestrange_," Gail taunted, enjoying the feel of power over the three shadowy figures. They still didn't seem to know where her voice was coming from, but the first woman had swung around and was staring at the pillar that Gail had successfully hidden behind, "may you have ten nasty little brats that will exhaust you to death."

Gail quickly removed the wand from her throat, managing a nonverbal "quietus." After successfully removing the spell, she took a step from behind the pillar and made herself quite visible to the three Death Eaters.

"You say your Dark Lord wants to meet with me?" Gail did her best to appear interested in the prospect, rather than being utterly repulsed. "I just have one thing to say about that... _stupefy_."

Gail's spell hit the man in the chest. Had it been a full moon, there was no way that the spell would have worked. As it was, there was enough force behind it to bring him down with ease.

"You brought a werewolf with you... Against me? How utterly ridiculous, but I would very much like to know who your third member is," Gail smiled passively at the two women. They had raised their wands, but this really didn't matter to her. She had made it far enough into the room to summon the nursery supervisor's anti-werewolf weapon.

"You will come with us without a fight," the first witch said, waving her wand menacingly as if to say 'or else.'

"See, now we have a problem because..." Gail swished her wand in the air, cheerfully summoning the weapon. Quickly she took a few steps forward to the Death Eater before catching the hilt of the sword. "I really don't like you."

With that, Gail swung the silver blade and severed the witch's wand hand. This made the masked woman shriek in pain and horror as her appendage dropped to the ground. In panic, the witch did her best to stop the bleeding, but not before she had squirted a good amount of her life fluid onto both Gail and herself. The woman crumpled to the ground. She became quiet except for her loud sobbing. The woman's cries of pain eventually faded to quiet weeping. The entire episode was completely ignored by Gail.

Quickly, Gail turned to regard the second woman. It was obvious that Voldemort had sent two women and a werewolf to persuade her, thinking that she would opt to change sides simply because of gender or species discrimination... Or perhaps out of fear? Whatever his reasons, Gail would not bite the line, no matter what kind of bait he used.

Bellatrix's eyes shone with something akin to grudging admiration. The fact that the normally loose cannon had allowed her opponent the time to prepare herself for the duel was strange. Grinning wickedly, Bellatrix raised her wand, "oh, this is going to be fun! _Crucio_."

Pain ripped through Gail before she could even react. Of course, the pain was only temporary, due to the requirements that had been placed on the wicked woman. Bellatrix wanted to leave her prey whole. Gail knew she had an advantage because of this; if she remained alive and had any strength to fight, she would. The mental anguish of losing one of her most beloved companions was far more painful than anything that could be done by a spell.

"Weak," Gail spat after Bellatrix called her torturous curse off.

"Well, well, it looks like you've got some natural resistance. Oh my, this will be fun," Bellatrix grinned widely, somewhat like a cheshire cat. There was a dark gleam in her eyes that oddly reminded Gail of Sirius, only more malicious. The wicked look promised that Bellatrix would bring misery to Gail. The woman thought Gail had a natural resistance to torture. It was obvious that she couldn't imagine the pain of losing something precious.

"Oh, here's a thought," Gail goaded, doing her best to pull herself back upright. "Perhaps I should teach you how to duel. There's more to it than just throwing three spells out. You're really not all that good, are you?"

"You..." Bellatrix's eyes shone with anger. Gail knew that she had successfully pushed the dark woman's buttons. She would be firing a larger spell this time. Excessively, the woman pointed her wand and shouted, "_avada kedavra_!"

At the same time, Gail flung the sword in front of her and pointed her wand at it. Transfiguration was easy enough for Gail, having mastered the ability of transfiguring herself. Several different birds erupted from the sword, flying straight into the green beam of light. The birds fell from the sky and melded back into the shape of the sword. Easily, Gail summoned the blade back. Bellatrix looked utterly stunned.

"My turn? Alright then. _Densaugeo_," Gail flicked her wand at Bellatrix, who promptly fired off a shield charm. Gail's hex rebounded and flew over her shoulder, "how boring. Can't think of anything more original?"

Bellatrix growled ferociously, launching yet another spell at Gail, "_sectumsempra_." Luckily, the spell was ill aimed and flew over Gail's shoulder. Or so Gail thought. Pain seared through her, feeling like Bellatrix had tried to tear all of the bones out of her had shoulder.

It was all Gail could do to kick some dirt and hay into the air: a motion that almost caused her to lose balance. With a jab of her wand, she sent the debris flying into Bellatrix's face. While the Death Eater was distracted with the dirt, thinking that it might have been enchanted with the properties of glass, Gail apparated so that she would arrive behind her opponent.

"_Stupefy_," Gail gasped, hitting Bellatrix's back with the red beam. The woman crumpled into a dark pile. Feeling rather secure with her opponents all taken care of, Gail turned to Wicket's hanging body. There was little she could do for the hippogriff. Time was pressing on her. With every second she spent in the area, there was a large chance that Deatheater reinforcements would arrive.

With a flick of her wand, Wicket's body dropped to the ground. After performing a cursory check, she noted that the hippogriff's body was completely lifeless. Quickly, Gail wiped Wicket's blood off of her hands and onto her robes. There was no way she could take his body with her, so she did what she could.

"_Incendio_," Gail ignited the body as callously as she could. She also put a charm on the body to make sure it would burn to ashes, and therefore couldn't be used for evil purposes. After saying goodbye to her beloved hippogriff, Gail apparated away from the nursery.

* * *

Gail was covered in the blood of three individuals, one being herself. The dusky haired woman stumbled along, into the Order's safe house. She felt numbed by what had just happened and had started to lose the feeling in her feet and hands. Never had she duelled with the intention of inflicting such damage on anyone before. The idea scared her and she averted away from recalling what she had just done. How easy it would have been to take that sword and plunge it into Bellatrix Lestrange's heart...

Something warm wrapped around her before she could walk very far into the safe house. The smell of soap, ointment, and butterbeer filled her nose. She was wrapped fully in an embrace before she could remember herself.

"Oye, Remus," Gail spoke weakly into his shoulder. "You're getting your robes dirty."

"Don't care," he mumbled, rubbing a hand through her hair gently.

"Remus, let her go so I can inspect her," Avalon said, gently prying Gail from his arms. The blonde's face was pale and her hands were shaking, but her eyes glowed with determination.

It took Avalon a few moments to locate the wound on Gail's shoulder. It was well disguised by the blood that covered the rest of Gail's robes. The blonde went to work with her wand practically flying. Every once in a while, a searing pain would take over Gail's body, causing her to flinch and eke out sounds of pain. Judging from Remus' face, it didn't look very good.

"That's it. Your arm will be stiff for a few days. I would also expect it to be numb, but at least it's not your wand arm. It wasn't all that deep- you were lucky to get away with just a scar." Avalon scanned her over for a moment before nodding. It was good to see the blonde calm down. She almost seemed lucid. "Go take a bath and get cleaned up."

Gail acknowledged the blonde's work before trudging up the stairs, rather oblivious to the fact that Remus was following her around. He stuck close to her as she began running the water. When she finally looked up and acknowledged his presence, he smiled faintly at her.

"I was worried," he stated briskly. His eyes darting from her face down her robes and back again.

"I know," Gail sighed, slipping out of her blood soaked clothes and into the bathtub, leaving Remus to pull out a wand and clean the blood up. She didn't recognize the spell he was using. Instead of worrying about it, she began scrubbing her skin and face roughly. After half a second, she found a pair of gentle, warm hands wrapped around her own.

"That's enough," Remus spoke quietly, staring intently at her. He had rolled up one sleeve and had dipped it over the edge of the bath tub, into the water. He looked tired. The streaks of silver in his hair made him look older than he really was. His hand playfully tickled her stomach for a moment before dipping further into the bath and pulling the plug. Remus handed her a towel before leaving the bathroom.

When Gail emerged from the bathroom, she wearing the newly cleaned robes. The shoulder had been mended quickly with an endearing patch. Remus had been waiting for her. Silently, he took her hand in his and led her to the meeting room.

"The Order wants you to... report what you've done," Remus stated, sitting down at one of the ends of the table. Gail sat next to him, his hand still firmly holding hers.

Several others filed into the room and took a chair. Gail was glad to see a few familiar faces, including James, Lily and Sirius. The last person to enter the room was Dumbledore.

"Ah, let's start this meeting with a few opening statements," Dumbledore started. Many of the members around him seemed to tense. "Caradoc Dearborn has been missing for weeks now- with no contact. Aside from that, no other members have been hurt or injured since the last meeting."

The second part of Dumbledore's statement seemed to lighten the mood, temporarily. It was good to see the light of hope, no matter how diminished it had become.

"Abigail Forester, would you like to inform us about the short battle that you were a participant of this night?" Dumbledore asked patiently, his blue eyes resting on her.

Gail hesitated for a moment, feeling Remus' hand squeeze her warmly. She stared at the highly polished table for a moment before looking up, "I was working at the nursery and I had almost finished moving the last of the animals to their secured location. The only creature left was a hippogriff."

Gail took a breath, "when I went back for him, I found that the lights were out. When I got closer, I found three intruders. Apparently, they were under orders to take me hostage without harming me. They didn't use any unforgivables until I goaded Bellatrix Lestrange into a duel."

Dumbledore nodded, "there are no other skilled witches and wizards that can exert the same control over animals as you. I'm sure they were wanting to recruit you, one way or another. Blackmail isn't beneath them."

Gail glared at the table, sulkily. When she spoke, her voice was full of spite. She didn't say anything at all. When she looked up, her eyes met with Dumbledore's. He seemed to understand that Gail would never assist the Deatheaters, though they could be very persuasive.

"Would you be interested in working with the Order? I have a mission that needs a level headed person," Dumbledore asked calmly. His facial expression seemed pensive. "We will protect you, even should you choose not to actively help out."

Gail nodded, quickly. Her decision wasn't based on any reasonable thoughts. She just wanted to continue down her path without thinking about Wicket or Jo. "I will. What do you need me to do?"

"I would like you to help recover and protect someone that has precious information about Voldemort," Dumbledore implored, ignoring the sounds of protests from several other members, including Lily and Remus.

"Who?" Gail asked, leaning forward across the table.

"Regulus Black," Dumbledore responded, nodding a head towards Sirius, who only seemed mildly surprised. "The information we have on him has indicated that he's likely to default from his Dark Lord. If you fail in your mission, it could cost us more than just two lives."

"Let me go with her," Sirius barked, standing up. "Regulus will trust me more, I'm his brother. She'll also need someone to help guard her back."

"Very well," Dumbledore agreed, "you two will work together to bring him back here safely. Do whatever it takes to make sure he survives."

"Yes sir," Gail nodded firmly as she watched Dumbledore turn to speak with some of the other members. She could feel Remus' hard stare in her direction.

"What you're doing is stupid," Remus finally snapped quietly. He didn't say any more, and simply walked out of the room.

Gail's face turned down. She felt Lily's hand rest on her shoulder, though, "don't feel too bad, Gail. It's a sign of the times. He's just worried about you."

"I know," Gail attempted to smile, but her face felt stiff. Lily pulled her into an embrace for a moment before moving away. She said something about James and the kitchen before exiting the room.

Sirius had also been watching her with troubled eyes. Gail hadn't been very close to Sirius in a while; the last time they had touched was when they were dating. Their friendship had become more and more of a facade over the years.

"Take me to your mother's house, Sirius," Gail commanded him callously. "It's time we pay a visit to your family."

"Wouldn't you rather have a nap or something?" Sirius asked her slowly. His eyes shone with admiration, plagued by frustration. "You've been at work all day... and the fight..."

"We need to talk to Regulus as soon as we can," Gail snapped. "I know you don't want to talk with your mother. If I have to, I'll talk to her myself."

"Maybe we can stop Reg as he's about to get home, or at least just sneak in and out without conversing with _that_ woman." Sirius suggested in a tone that suggested he was calm about the whole idea. "You really don't want to talk with my mum. She's become more obsessed with blood purity lately."

"Alright, fine. Let's go," Gail conceded.

"You alright leaving him like that?" Sirius asked warningly, tossing a careless look over his shoulder in the direction Remus had just gone.

"It's fine, just drop it," Gail sighed heavily, not having the courage to look back over her shoulder. She had the feeling that Sirius had caught the eyes of the one person that could stop her. Remus didn't seem to understand how she was feeling. If she did nothing, she would wallow in self pity and despair. The thought revolted her. Activity was her only ward against memories.

"Fine. See you there," Sirius lead the way out of the safe house. Once on the porch, he spun on the spot. With nothing more than a crack, he was gone. Mimicking his movement, Gail focused on apparating near Sirius' parents' house. She knew the general location after hearing about it from Sirius while they were dating, but she couldn't be very specific.

A flood of nausea overtook Gail when she opened her eyes. Sirius was standing across the road from her, near a tipsy park bench. Dark humour was evident in Sirius' eyes, mocking her. Cautiously, Gail straightened up and glanced around. The street was dark and gloomy. The muggle lights didn't seem to illuminate the road very well. The best Gail could do was stumble over to Sirius.

"Regulus should be in there," Sirius gestured towards one of buildings with a look of utter dislike written on his face.

"Who's there?" A voice called through the darkness of the street. In an instant, Sirius had his wand out. A hex hit a rather unintelligent Deatheater before the man could even conceive that Sirius was a foe. He had probably mistaken Sirius for his brother.

It was a trap. There was no way that the Death Eaters would leave one of their own unprotected or watched, and Regulus was no different. By the time Gail had her wand out, four more cloaked figures approached them, their masks gleaming in the faint light of the street.

They didn't attack, though, even though one of their colleagues had been neutralized. Their wands were held loosely. Obviously, they weren't expecting any members of the Order to strike.

"It's one of the Blacks' kids," a woman said crisply to one of the other Death Eaters. That gave Gail an idea of how to thwart them; if only she could control her speeding heart.

"Sirius, what _were_ you thinking? The Order wouldn't follow us here," Gail snapped peevishly. "You don't have to act paranoid."

Before Sirius could answer, one of the Death Eaters lowered her wand slightly. Gail ignored the warning looks she was receiving from Sirius as she continued.

"There's no way they know we've been betraying them. Calm down."

"What's all this, then?" A deep voice reverberated from behind Gail.

"We're just meeting with our contact," Gail answered, honestly hoping that her face was straight. "We were told to meet with Regulus Black to deliver important information on the Order."

"I see," the man paused for a moment, "go quickly. We'll make sure you weren't followed."

Gail nodded quickly, thankful that the chain of information within the Deatheaters was quite short. Snatching Sirius' arm, Gail dragged him to the house. She didn't dare look back in fear that it would make her seem suspicious.

"What are you doing?" Sirius hissed when they entered the house without knocking.

"Saving us some trouble," Gail snapped at him. Her eyes darted around in the house. Light bulbs, as well as other muggle inventions, were not present. It was rather like being back in the stone age, or at least at Hogwarts. "Which one is Regulus' bedroom?"

"Follow me," Sirius crept past the portrait of his sleeping mother and slid up the stairs, skipping a step here and there. Gail carefully followed him, aware that some of the stairs could be creaky, given that the house seemed old. Dust tickled Gail's nose, tempting her to sneeze.

Sirius opened one of the doors and stepped in. Gail followed him in and closed the door softly behind herself. Asleep on the bed was Regulus Black. The blankets on his bed were perfectly folded around him. He looked like a doll that had been placed in a perfectly tidy playhouse. None of the items in the room seemed personal. It was a sad existence, one that Sirius had shared for years of his life.

Quietly, Gail stepped further into the room and sat herself on the edge of Regulus' bed. The younger Black startled and awoke. Feeling a presence in his room, he reached for his wand.

"Shh- don't move, Regulus," Gail soothed, showing him two empty hands. "We're here to help you."

Nervously, Regulus twitched himself upwards. His dark eyes switched to his brother and a look of relief overtook him. Gail took her time examining Regulus. He was still a kid, not even old enough to think about the consequences of the wizarding war. He couldn't have been older than sixteen. The poor boy looked pale and shaky, like he had cried himself to sleep several nights in a row.

"What are you doing here, Sirius?" Regulus' voice eked out in a harsh, pubescent tone. "If Mother catches you..."

"She won't," Sirius smiled calmly, though being in the house seemed to make him uncomfortable. "Come on, Reg. It's time for us to go."

"I can't," Regulus froze before shaking his head furiously.

"We can't help you if you stay here," Gail explained quickly.

Regulus finally allowed Gail's presence to register as he examined her. It took him a moment to finally speak. "You can't help me, they'll kill you..."

"We have to go," Sirius hissed. A single floorboard creaked in the hall, making the dark haired man pivot and backup. After a few seconds, Sirius relaxed and spoke normally. "It was just Kreacher moving around... But we still need to leave."

Regulus got out of bed and rifled through his things for a pair of clothes. When he had them, he gave a Gail a rather furtive look, as if she had been trying to peep on him. With a sigh, Gail turned around to give the teenager some privacy. Sirius seemed to look away, as well.

"Right, so I was planning on going to this cave," Regulus finally started once he was fully dressed in black robes. "It's nearly impossible to get in and out of, if what Kreacher said was right. The Dark Lord left something in there, something important."

"We should tell Dumbledore," Gail started, turning to Sirius. "Before we do anything else. He might give us some help getting there-"

"No," Regulus vetoed her motion violently. "I don't trust him! He's just as bad as- well... I just don't trust him."

"That's just the paranoia talking, Reg," Sirius growled darkly. "Something you hear from Mum often enough? '_Don't trust that Dumbledore, he's only looking out for those filthy mudbloods. He won't lift a finger to protect us, will he? Not like that nice Voldemort, oh heavens no!_' Do you still honestly believe that rubbish? Muggleborns have never been a threat to anyone, and you know it."

Regulus went red, but was still firmly shook his head. Sirius was about to protest this, but Gail placed a hand on his shoulder.

"That's fine, Regulus. We're here to help you. If you're uncomfortable going to Dumbledore for help, then we won't go to him," Gail soothed. It seemed to work. Regulus' shoulders seemed to relax slightly and he seemed to accept the idea. "Do you have anything planned?"

"Kreacher can take us there," Regulus said quietly. "But I'll have to convince him that you two are alright."

Sirius frowned, but again Gail spoke, "that's fine. Can you do it now?"

Regulus nodded, "stay here, I'll be back in a few minutes."

* * *

**Author note:**

Wow! I can't tell you how happy I am that this chapter is done. I've been debating on whether or not to change a few areas for a while, and this is what I've settled on. For a while, I've been planning on using a third of this chapter and I'm pleased that it fit quite well. Everything is on schedule for my planned ending. The story has about 2 chapters and an epilogue left, I think.

Here is a quick announcement, or** re-announcement:** Yes, the story is an alternative universe- certain events _must_ happen, but tweaking them will result in different outcomes. I'm going to play with certain events to build a better [you might not agree] ending. It's more of an adventure this way [you might not expect the ending], and if it's really not great, the revised version of this story will be posted eventually.

Phew! That's off my chest. I hope all of you enjoyed this chapter and will decide to read the last two.

_-Rue_

* * *

_kimmmz_: Yes, I've recently started playing World of Warcraft again- I quit for two years because I didn't have time for it and university. So these last few chapters might take a while. The only person that knows about Gail being Orpheus' child is Dumbledore. Gail has told Remus and Lily about her ability to "see" non-corporeal magic.

_LaurenB16_: At least you signed your review, so I could get back to you! The chapters really will fluctuate between happiness and despair, because of the natural chaos of the events. Of course, arguments can't last very long: not when lives are at stake. If it were me, I would have appologized to everyone right away. Too bad Gail's stubborn until the point of exhaustion.

_Apocolips_: What is going to happen? Well, Lily and James might have a kid, that's for sure. The rest, well... I don't want to spoil anything.

_XxGrimxLullaby_: Of course James' father is older than the others. I think I've read in several different areas that James' parents were older when they had him, which is sad. James came really close to having a disorder. I look forward to the rest of your review!

_Bellaboo13_: I believe I've addressed your concerns elsewhere. I would like to keep our discussion private, since I have no qualm with you as a person. I wouldn't want you to feel like I'm throwing a pie at you in public because of your opinions.


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